The Super Eagles of Nigeria’s contingent for the October 15, 2024 African Cup of Nations qualifier clash against The Mediterranean Knights of Libya have left the North African country after enduring a hostage-like situation in the volatile country.
The Super Eagles defeated the Libyans in Uyo on Friday in the first leg of the double header and left the shores of the country for the second leg with high hopes of securing qualification to the next Africa Cup of Nations with victory in Benghazi.
According to reports, the Super Eagles’ ordeal began when they were prevented from landing in Benghazi by the Libyan authorities and their flight subsequently diverted to Al Abraq airport for reasons best known to the authorities.
At Al Abraq airport, the Super Eagles contingent were reportedly made to wait for clearance to enter into the country and after finally securing clearance, there were no buses and security to convey them to Benghazi.
The Super Eagles were then kept inside the airport without food, water and denied access to the Internet. They had to spend the night at the airport by sleeping on benches and on the floor with the Libyan authorities making no provisions for them.
While the situation was getting out of control and reports were spreading on various media channels, there were counter claims that the Libyan contingent suffered similar experience in Nigeria last week which showed that the airport situation may be a planned attempt to hurt the Super Eagles rather than mere logistics problem.
After spending more than twelve hours at the airport with no meaningful provisions by the Libyan authorities, the Super Eagles reached a decision and their captain William Troost-Ekong posted on his X account that the team will no longer honour the match against Libya and called on the NFF to secure their return home.
The degrading manners in which the players found themselves were shared online. Photos and videos of the terrible buses that were provided by the Libyan authorities to convey the team to Benghazi were also shared on the platform.
Super Eagles players like Bruno Onyeamachi, Victor Boniface, Moses Simon and others voiced out their decision to not honour the match. They called on authorities to come to their rescue as the situation was gradually looking like an hostage situation.
Victor Boniface made series of posts on his X account calling attention to what the team was enduring at the Libyan airport.
He posted “Been at the airport for almost 13 hours no food no wifi no where to sleep
African we can do better @caf.
“Help me call my grand mother say her grandson Dey ok. Nah this is sick.
“This is getting scary now. You guys can have the point. We just want to return to our country”
The NFF reportedly made this position know to Confederation of African Football (CAF) leadership which appealed to the NFF and Super Eagles not to return to Nigeria despite the ordeal.
CAF wanted the Super Eagles to play the match despite the terrible treatment but the Nigeria football body and the Super Eagles decided that they would not be partake in the match against Libya scheduled for tomorrow.
It was also reported that the Libyan authorities initially refused to grant the Super Eagles’ chartered flight permission to fly out of the country and later refused to sell aviation full to the contingent.
While all these happened, the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) denied intentionally hurting the Super Eagles as a form of retribution for their rumoured delay in Nigeria or to gain advantage on the pitch tomorrow.
They claimed that the last minute diversion was based on logistics which is a normal procedure across the world. They urged the Super Eagles not to return to Nigeria despite their ordeal but to stay and honour the match against them on Tuesday.
After several hours, the Super Eagles were finally granted their wish as they got permission to fly out of Libya and return to Nigeria while CAF threatened to probe the event and sanctions those found guilty.
CAF in a statement revealed that “The matter has been referred to the CAF Disciplinary Board for investigation and appropriate action will be taken against those who violated the CAF Statutes and Regulations.”
