Ann Chiejine
Ann Chiejine occupies a special place in the history of the Super Falcons, but one chapter of her remarkable career stands out above the rest.
She represented Nigeria at the 2000 Sydney Olympics while four months pregnant, and after discovering the pregnancy, she chose to continue playing for her country.
It was a revelation that could have ended her involvement in the tournament. Instead, Chiejine decided to take the risk because she wanted to continue representing Nigeria.
“I didn’t know that I was pregnant,” Chiejine later revealed.
She explained that it was a FIFA examination that discovered the pregnancy and showed that she was already four months pregnant.
Despite the danger involved, she decided to continue with the competition, describing it as “a very big” risk that she took for Nigeria.
That decision remains one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of Nigerian women’s football. Chiejine’s journey to the national team did not begin with goalkeeping. As a youngster, she was more interested in athletics and initially wanted to become a sprinter.
She later began playing football with boys around her neighbourhood before joining the football team at Bolade Grammar School in Oshodi, Lagos.
She initially played as a winger. Her transformation into a goalkeeper came after a coach noticed her physical attributes and encouraged her to try the position.
The change proved decisive. Chiejine quickly developed into a goalkeeper and impressed at a Lagos State competition. Her performances eventually brought her to the attention of national-team selectors, with the late Jossy Lad playing an important role in bringing her into the national setup.
By 1991, Chiejine was representing Nigeria at the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup.
She became the first goalkeeper of the Super Falcons. She would go on to feature at the 1991, 1995 and 1999 World Cups, establishing herself as one of the pioneering goalkeepers of the Super Falcons.
Her career was not without difficult moments. At the 1999 Women’s World Cup, Chiejine started in goal for Nigeria in the quarter-final against Brazil.
Brazil took a 3–0 lead, with the third goal coming after a long-range effort from Nenê slipped over the Nigerian goalkeeper. Four minutes after the third goal, coach Ismaila Mabo substituted Chiejine for Judith Chime.
But Nigeria remarkably fought back. Prisca Emeafu, Nkiru Okosieme and Nkechi Egbe scored as the Falcons recovered from three goals down to force extra time. Brazil eventually won 4–3 through Sissi’s golden goal.
It was a painful night for Chiejine, but it did not define her career. A year later, Chiejine found herself at the Olympic Games in Australia. Unknown to her at the time, she was already carrying a pregnancy.
Chiejine later explained that she had not realized she was pregnant before travelling to the Olympics. Her menstrual cycle had stopped, but she attributed it to the intensity of training.
The pregnancy was eventually discovered through a FIFA examination. At that point, Chiejine faced an extraordinary decision.
“I didn’t know that I was pregnant, it was not good, it was FIFA that brought me out, and I later discovered that I was four month pregnant. God want me to get there, I had the passion and there was nothing wrong in winning the World Cup,” Chiejine had said
She could have withdrawn from the competition and returned home. Instead, she chose to remain with the team and continue representing Nigeria.
“I chose to continue the tournament,” she said, acknowledging that it was a major risk but one she took for Nigeria.
Her story became even more remarkable because the Olympic Games were not the end of her international involvement that year.
After Nigeria’s Olympic campaign, Chiejine went on to represent the country at the 2000 African Women’s Championship in South Africa.
She was reported to be five months pregnant during that tournament. Nigeria eventually defeated Cameroon 2–0 to win the continental title.
Chiejine’s pregnancy story is remarkable because it combines two parts of her life that were often regarded as incompatible at the time — motherhood and elite football.
She later spoke about how some people believed that marriage and football could not coexist with having children. Her own career became a powerful counterexample.
She was already a mother when she continued playing, and her Olympic experience demonstrated the extraordinary lengths to which she was prepared to go in representing Nigeria.
Importantly, Chiejine has always acknowledged that she did not deliberately enter the Olympics knowing she was pregnant.
Her decision came after the pregnancy was discovered. That distinction makes her story even more compelling.
For Chiejine, it was a “very big” risk. For Nigerian football history, it became a remarkable testament to her determination and patriotism.
Chiejine eventually moved into coaching after her playing career and remained involved in Nigerian women’s football.
She later became involved with the Negra Racita women’s team in Romania and continued to build her coaching credentials, obtaining CAF A, CAF B, and UEFA B coaching qualifications
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