CAF releases new statement on Libya vs Nigeria AFCON Qualifier debacle

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has issued a new statement regarding the controversy surrounding the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match between Libya and Nigeria.

Contrary to initial reports suggesting a potential walkover, CAF announced that the match will not take place as scheduled.

According to CAF, “The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifier fixture between Libya and Nigeria will not take place as scheduled tonight. The matter will be referred to the competent CAF bodies.”

CAF had earlier condemned the treatment of the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles, at an airport in Libya.

In Monday’s statement, CAF expressed its dismay at the “disturbing and unacceptable experiences” of the team, which was stranded for several hours in “disturbing conditions.”

What happened in Libya

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) provided a detailed account of the ordeal, highlighting a series of events that unfolded after the team’s arrival in Libya.

The chartered ValueJet aircraft, carrying 22 players and team officials, including NFF President Ibrahim Gusau and Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, was diverted to Al-Abraq International Airport, despite having all necessary landing papers.

Upon arrival, the team faced scant respect from airport authorities, with no official representation from the Libyan Football Federation.

The airport lacked basic facilities, including scanning machines, and officials had to rely on mobile phones to scan passport data pages.

The team’s luggage took over an hour to arrive, and when delegation members attempted to venture outside to ascertain if buses were waiting, they were stopped in an uncouth manner by airport security personnel.

Calls to the General Secretary of the Libyan Football Federation yielded no results, with promises of buses arriving in “10 minutes” later becoming “two hours” and then “three hours.”

The team was left without food or water, and with no network or internet connection at the airport, frustration and anger mounted.

The NFF team learned that the Libyan authorities had allegedly instructed the delay as retaliation for an incident in Nigeria, which the NFF disputed.

The incident referred to was actually generated by the Libyans, who informed the NFF that their contingent would land in Port Harcourt, not Uyo, only two hours before arrival.

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Infuriated, NFF President reacted, “We anticipated some shocks here given the false account of what happened in Nigeria as narrated by their team captain. But we did not expect these shenanigans. What I am seeing is despicable and has no place in the game of football which is meant to foster excellent relationships among nations and bring peoples from diverse cultures, religious persuasions and economic and political interests together in an ambience of peace and joy.”

After spending many hours waiting for fuel to refill the chartered aircraft, the Nigerian delegation departed Al-Abraq Airport at 15:05 hours, bound for Kano and onwards to Abuja.

The Nigerian delegation has called for punishment against the Libyan authorities for their actions.

Nigeria beat Libya 1-0 in the reverse fixture in Uyo on Friday thanks to a late goal from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, taking them to seven points from three games in their group.

Benin have six points, Rwanda two and Libya one.

The top two teams in each group advance to the 24-team finals in Morocco next year.