The Libyan Football Federation, LFF, has pointed accusing fingers at Nigeria over the postponement of their AFCON qualifier that was billed for Tuesday in Benghazi. The two countries had been scheduled to lock horns in the AFCON qualifier, but it was eventually postponed after the Nigerian contingent refused to play, citing ill-treatment upon arrival in Libya.
The Nigerian players and officials were stranded for over 16 hours at the Al Abraq Airport, some 250km away from Benghazi – their initial destination, following the diversion of a charter flight to Bayda instead of Benghazi. According to them, they had been without food or water, and even without one line of communication from Libyan authorities. In retaliation, the Nigerian team decided to return home on Monday instead of going ahead with the fixture.
It established that there was no deliberate malfeasance on the part of LFF and asked Nigeria to be understanding, citing their own problems of travel during the visit of the team to Nigeria for the first leg of the qualifier in Uyo, which they lost 0-1. In similar vein, the Libyan federation showed their anger against the actions of the Nigerian Football Federation, promising to take the matter to the courts to protect the rights of its national team.
Already, the CAF has referred the matter to its disciplinary board, which is expected to hear it soon. But even with the postponement, Nigeria remains in a strong position to qualify for the AFCON finals in Morocco next year.
