After an almost 24-hour airport drama in Libya, the Nigerian national team has now returned to their home country. The game on Tuesday evening will probably not take place. Libya rejects the accusations.
“It’s been a long 24 hours,” William Troost-Ekong wrote on X. Early Monday evening, the captain of the Nigerian national team and the 22-member delegation returned to Nigeria – after almost a full day at a small Libyan airport.
On Sunday afternoon, the team, including Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface, left for Libya, where a qualifier for the upcoming Africa Cup was scheduled for Tuesday evening. As the Nigerian Football Federation announced in a detailed statement, the team’s plane, which was heading for Benghazi, was diverted shortly before landing to the small, abandoned La Abraq airport in Al-Baida, around 240 kilometers away. The team subsequently spent the entire night in the airport building – without food, water or anywhere to sleep. The treatment was “unimaginable”, the association writes.
During the night, the team was offered a bus ride to the venue in Benina, which they refused due to security concerns. Even on Monday morning, there was no improvement at first, and Boniface had even written on X: “This is starting to get creepy.” It was not until Monday afternoon shortly after 3 p.m. that the delegation left the airport and flew home to Kano, according to the association.
During their stay at the airport, the team had already decided not to compete in the qualifying match scheduled for Tuesday evening due to the harassment they had suffered. They also wanted to stick to that decision. “I am proud of the team’s decision,” Troost-Ekong made clear after the team’s arrival in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Football Federation has filed a formal complaint with the Confederation of African Football (CAF). In an initial statement, the CAF described the incident as “very serious” and announced: “Appropriate measures will be taken against those who have violated CAF statutes and regulations.” However, the federation remained silent on the specific action to be taken – as well as on the match result.
Meanwhile, the Libyan Football Association has also commented on the events – and rejected the accusations that they deliberately detained the Nigerian team. The incident was due to “routine air traffic control protocols, security checks and logistical challenges,” according to a statement. They now hope that the situation “can be resolved with understanding and goodwill”.
The association has also released videos that are supposed to show the unacceptable conditions that their national team was subjected to during the first leg in Nigeria last Friday. Libyan captain Faisal Al-Badri had complained after the game, which Nigeria won 1-0, that the team had been harassed on the way there and, among other things, held at an airport for three hours during a transfer. The Nigerian Football Association, on the other hand, denies the accusations.
