Victor Boniface plagte die Angst. Mehr als 15 Stunden saß er mit seinen Kollegen der nigerianischen Fußball-Nationalmannschaft am verlassenen Flughafen der libyschen Stadt Al-Abraq fest: kein Essen, kein Trinken, kein Schlafplatz. „Das wird jetzt unheimlich. Ihr könnt die Punkte haben. Wir wollen nur in unser Land zurückkehren“, schrieb der Leverkusener dann am Montagnachmittag verzweifelt auf der Plattform X (ehemals Twitter): „Helft mir, meine Großmutter anzurufen und ihr zu sagen, dass es ihrem Enkel gut geht. Das ist krank.“
Eigentlich hätten die Nigerianer am Dienstag in Libyen zum Qualifikationsspiel für den Afrika-Cup antreten sollen. Doch wegen der „unmenschlichen“ Behandlung bei der Einreise werde das Team um Boniface und den Augsburger Frank Onyeka die Partie boykottieren, teilte der nigerianische Verband mit.
„Es ist nicht sicher“
Der Flieger war kurz vor der Landung erst umgeleitet worden ins drei Busstunden vom Spielort Benina entfernte Al-Abraq, doch es fehlte das Abholkomitee. Die gesamte Reisegruppe strandete am Airport.
As team captain, he “decided together with the team that we will NOT play this game,” wrote William Troost-Ekong on social media: “They should have the points.” After the events at the airport, the team had security concerns.
“We will not accept going anywhere by car because even with security guards it is not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like if we continued our journey.”
“This is a high-risk country”
Former Bundesliga professional and delegation member Victor Ikpeba called for tough sanctions against Libya and supported the decision to boycott the game. “If the CAF knows its job, Libya should be banned from international football,” Africa’s Footballer of the Year 1997 told the AFP news agency: “This is a high-risk country and one really wonders who made sure Libya was closed to its games carries out at home.”
He has “never” experienced anything like “what I experienced in the last few hours in Libya. The team is not safe, and we who travel with them are not safe either. We were locked up like hostages in an abandoned airport for more than 10 hours.” The association has lodged a formal complaint with the African Football Confederation (CAF). It was initially unclear when the journey home would take place.
Nigeria leads Group D with seven points, while Libya is in last place with one point. The “Super Eagles” won the first leg 1-0 last Friday in the southern Nigerian city of Uyo. According to English media reports, the Libyan players were said to have felt badly treated. There is speculation as to whether the incident involving the Nigerian team in Al-Abraq could have been a retaliation.
