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Nigeria/Libya: CAF Releases New Statement On Libya Vs Nigeria Afcon Qualifier Debacle

todayOctober 16, 2024 2

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Contrary to initial reports suggesting a potential walkover, CAF announced that the match will not take place as scheduled

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a new statement regarding the controversy surrounding the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Libya and Nigeria.

Contrary to initial reports suggesting a potential walkover, CAF announced that the match will not take place as scheduled.

According to CAF, “The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifier fixture between Libya and Nigeria will not take place as scheduled tonight. The matter will be referred to the competent CAF bodies.”

CAF had earlier condemned the treatment of the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles, at an airport in Libya.

In Monday’s statement, CAF expressed its dismay at the “disturbing and unacceptable experiences” of the team, which was stranded for several hours in “disturbing conditions.”

What happened in Libya

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) provided a detailed account of the ordeal, highlighting a series of events that unfolded after the team’s arrival in Libya.

The chartered ValueJet aircraft, carrying 22 players and team officials, including NFF President Ibrahim Gusau and Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, was diverted to Al-Abraq International Airport, despite having all necessary landing papers.

Upon arrival, the team faced scant respect from airport authorities, with no official representation from the Libyan Football Federation.

The airport lacked basic facilities, including scanning machines, and officials had to rely on mobile phones to scan passport data pages.

The team’s luggage took over an hour to arrive, and when delegation members attempted to venture outside to ascertain if buses were waiting, they were stopped in an uncouth manner by airport security personnel.

Calls to the General Secretary of the Libyan Football Federation yielded no results, with promises of buses arriving in “10 minutes” later becoming “two hours” and then “three hours.”

The team was left without food or water, and with no network or internet connection at the airport, frustration and anger mounted.

The NFF team learned that the Libyan authorities had allegedly instructed the delay as retaliation for an incident in Nigeria, which the NFF disputed.