2021/08/13 by Chuka Onwumechili · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Sports, Gender, and Society #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Sports Analytics and Performance
paper · doi:10.1080/09523367.2021.1993190
openalex publication_date 2021/08/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Nigeria has dominated competition in women’s football in the African continent during the last three decades. This includes winning all but two continental championships and representing the continent in all of the Women’s World Cups since the inception of the competition in 1991. Yet, little is known about the history of women competing in football in Nigeria and how that participation is framed by the media. In this study, newspaper archives are investigated to discover media framing of women’s involvement in football in Nigeria. It identifies the following frames under four periods: Early/Emergent years (1940s – 1950) which focuses on frames of femininity; Under the Shadows (1950s – 1960s) which maintains the frame of femininity, among others, but was also the period when the British colonial government banned women’s football in the country; Re-Emergence, Growth, and Transition (1970s – early 1990s) when competition for women was established and there was more media coverage leading to a change in frames from femininity to a focus on the skill of the participants and the sport’s possible health effects; and Institutionalization (mid 1990s – present) in which frames reflect the game’s institutionalization and a focus on poor treatment of the participants. This historical study clearly points to changes in media framing of women’s football across the years.