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Super Falcons midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene has spoken out about the treatment of women in Nigerian football, saying many female players are made to feel that marriage and motherhood mark the end of their careers. Speaking to BBC Sport Africa, the four-time Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) champion said many of the reactions she has seen online reflect a wider belief that women lose their value once they become wives or mothers.
“Most of the fans out there, they feel when a woman is married, and she gives birth, she’s old. She doesn’t have the strength to do whatever she’s doing,” Okobi said.
The midfielder, who recently returned to the Super Falcons after becoming a mother, rejected that assumption, insisting that motherhood does not diminish a woman’s ability or ambition.
“A career woman can do anything, even though she gives birth to two, three, four or even five kids.”
Okobi also described the hostility women continue to face online, saying the comments she encounters on social media reflect how easily women’s achievements are dismissed.
“I see so many comments on Instagram and social media entirely. They see women as trash in this country, and it’s bad.”
Reflecting on her own return to football after childbirth, Okobi admitted it was far from easy. She resumed training when she was five months postpartum, describing the process as physically demanding and emotionally exhausting. Throughout that period, she said the encouragement she received from her husband, family and teammates made the difference.
“One thing I’m grateful for is that I have a husband and family who support me… they kept encouraging me even when I felt I was tired.”
“I started my training when I was five months postpartum. It was tough.”
She added that women should be encouraged rather than discouraged from pursuing their ambitions after becoming mothers.
“We need to encourage our women. We need to make them understand that, of course, they can actually do more. Me being a soccer player doesn’t stop me from being a wife. It doesn’t stop me from being a career woman and athlete.”
Okobi’s remarks have revisited conversations about the expectations placed on women in professional sport. While male athletes are rarely asked whether fatherhood affects their commitment or ability to compete, women are routinely expected to explain how they intend to balance marriage, motherhood and their careers.
The question itself reflects an assumption that caregiving belongs primarily to women, and that professional success must be weighed against family life in ways that men’s success is not. Her comments also highlight another expectation increasingly placed on women, the pressure to stage a “comeback” after childbirth.
Rather than recognising pregnancy and motherhood as ordinary parts of many women’s lives, female athletes are often celebrated only after proving they can return to the same level of performance. The focus shifts from their talent to whether they can overcome motherhood, as though becoming a parent is an obstacle unique to women only.
