By Nurudeen Obalola
The Super Eagles are seriously considering withdrawing from Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Libya following inhumane treatment from the hosts.
The Nigerian delegation arrived in Libya on Sunday evening and it has been a hellish experience for them since then.
First, the Libyans diverted the Super Eagles’ plane from its original destination of Benina in the outskirts of match venue Benghazi, forcing it to land in the Al Abraq airport in Bayda city, which would require a road trip of three to four hours in dangerous terrain.
The Nigerian players and officials were then held inside the Al Abraq airport for hours apparently due to a ‘system malfunction’.
When they were eventually allowed to get through immigration, the Nigerian players and officials still had to wait several hours for a bus to take them to Benghazi because there was none available.
In all, the Nigerian delegation has been in Libya for over 13 hours, having landed at around 8pm on Sunday, and they are yet to even leave the airport in Bayda city for Benghazi, where they are scheduled to play from 8pm on Tuesday.
The Nigeria Football Federation has contacted CAF to find a solution, but the players have made up their minds about their next course of action.
Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong expressed his frustration with a long post on X on Monday, about 12 hours after the team landed in Libya.
“12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Libya after our plane was diverted whilst descending. Libyan government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games,” the Saudi Arabia-based centre-back narrated.
“I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour. Even the Tunisian pilot who thankfully managed to navigate the last minute change to an airport not fit for our plane to land had never seen something like this before.
“Upon arrival he tried to find a nearby airport to rest with his crew, to be denied at every hotel again under Government instruction. He could sleep there but NO NIGERIAN crew members allowed. They have returned to now sleep on the plane which is parked up.”
Troost-Ekong declared that the players were no longer willing to go ahead with the match, and appealed to both the Nigerian government and the Confederation of African Football to get involved.
“At this point we have called for our Nigerian Government to intervene and rescue us. As the captain together with the team we have decided that we will NOT play this game,” he added.
“CAF should look at the report and what is happening here. Even if they decide to allow this kind of behaviour, let them have the points. We will not accept to travel anywhere by road here, even with security it’s not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like given to us IF we continued.
“We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with int. football.”
The Libyans are apparently being hostile to the Super Eagles in reaction to what purportedly happened in Nigeria last week.
Libya captain Faisal Al-Badri had claimed that they were mistreated in Nigeria after they landed in Port Harcourt instead of Uyo, and had to travel for three to four hours by road.
He claimed that they were provided with buses with no air conditioning in stifling heat, and the hotel they were lodged in was substandard, urging his people back home to reciprocate when the Super Eagles visited.
However, the NFF denied the allegations, clarifying that it was the Libya federation that messed up the arrangements.
NFF’s Assistant Director (Protocol), Emmanuel Ayanbunmi, explained that the Libya federation only informed their Nigerian counterparts that their team was landing in Port Harcourt, and not Uyo, shortly before the team’s arrival last Tuesday, for last Friday’s match in the Akwa Ibom State capital.
“I spoke to the General Secretary of LFF, at length, on Monday, 7th October and he never hinted that his team would be arriving on Tuesday (the following day). He only said he would get back to me but he never did,” Ayanbunmi explained.
“On Monday evening, someone sent as an advance party by the LFF called me and said his team would be arriving on Tuesday by noon. We made all arrangements to receive the team in Uyo on arrival.
“It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt.
“Apparently, that would have meant additional cost to the LFF from the charter company, and they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road.”
Ayanbunmi added that the Libyan delegation rejected road transportation arrangements made for them by the NFF and instead hired buses on their own.
“If they travelled on buses that were not air-conditioned, that had nothing to do with the NFF as they hired their own buses,” he said.
“We provided security for them, with men and vehicles in front and behind their buses, so we are unmoved about their complaints and threats.”
