Professional football players held at an abandoned airport in Libya for more than 15 hours. This is what the Nigerian selection is currently experiencing, which was to face Libya this Tuesday in qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
In response to this “inhumane treatment”, Nigeria decided not to play the match. An official complaint from the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has been sent to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Captain William Troost-Ekong said the team would not play the match and would not make the three-hour bus journey from Al-Abraq to Benina, where the match was to be played, for security reasons. “As team captain and with the team, we have decided not to play this match,” he posted on social media. “Let’s give them the points. »
“The team is not safe”
“We will not accept road travel here, even with security, it is not safe. We cannot imagine what the hotel or food would be like if we continued,” he added. The player who plays in Saudi Arabia explained, on social networks, that the selection’s plane had been diverted on the descent “for no reason”, before the airport doors were closed, all without any telephone connection possible.
Former Nigerian soccer star Victor Ikpeba, who also accompanied the team, called for tough sanctions against Libya and supported the decision to boycott the match. “If CAF does its job, Libya should be banned from international football,” he told AFP. “It’s a high-risk country and you really wonder who approved Libya playing their matches at home.” “I played for the Super Eagles for 10 years and I have never experienced what I experienced in Libya in the last few hours,” he continued.
“The team is not safe and those of us who travel with them are not safe either,” the former Monaco striker continued. “We were locked in an abandoned airport for more than 10 hours, like hostages.” Nigeria, leading Group D with seven points in three matches, beat Libya (1-0) at home on Friday. The Libyans are last in the standings with just one point.
