Breaking: Super Eagles Left In Poor Conditions For Hours In An Abandoned Airport, Will Not Play Libya

The Nigerian Super Eagles have announced they will not play their scheduled Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Libya after being stranded for more than 12 hours at an abandoned Libyan airport.

The decision was made after the team’s flight, which was descending into Benghazi, was diverted without warning by Libyan authorities, with the team left to endure dire conditions at Al Abraq Airport.

According to a statement by Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, the team was locked inside the airport with no access to food, drinks, or phone connections.

The gates were sealed, and the Nigerian contingent was left without proper shelter or communication, in what Troost-Ekong described as a deliberate ploy to play mind games ahead of the crucial qualifier.

Troost-Ekong expressed shock at the situation, which he said was unprecedented in his experience of playing away matches across Africa.

He noted that even their Tunisian pilot, who successfully navigated the last-minute diversion to an airport ill-suited for their plane, had never witnessed such treatment.

The pilot himself, along with his crew, was allowed to rest nearby, but Nigerian personnel were forbidden from doing so and were forced to sleep on the plane.

The players have called on the Nigerian government to intervene and rescue them from the situation. Troost-Ekong made it clear that the team would not continue with the match under these circumstances, stating, “We will NOT play this game.”

He further criticised the Confederation of African Football (CAF), urging them to address the situation but asserting that even if the points were awarded to Libya, Nigeria would not risk travelling further in such unsafe conditions.

CAF is yet to release a statement on the incident as at the time of this report.

The harsh treatment of the Super Eagles is said to be connected to a repor that the Libyan players and coaching crew faced when they were hosted in Nigeria last week Tuesday.

A circulating post revealed that the team were also left stranded at the Lagos Airport for hours, leading to frustration for the Libyans.

However, days earlier the Nigerian Football Federation had dismissed Libya captain’s poor treatment claims, insisting that Libya caused its own problems.

In a statement by NFF’s Assistant Director (Protocol), Mr Emmanuel Ayanbunmi, he noted that the Libya Federation only informed the NFF that its team was landing in Port Harcourt, and not Uyo, only three hours to the team’s arrival on Tuesday.

“I spoke to the General Secretary of LFF, at length, on Monday, 7th October and he never hinted that his team would be arriving on Tuesday (the following day). He only said he would get back to me but he never did. On Monday evening, someone sent an advance party by the LFF called me and said his team would be arriving on Tuesday by noon. We made all arrangements to receive the team in Uyo on arrival.

“It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt. Apparently, that would have meant additional cost to the LFF from the charter company, and they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road.”

NFF further claimed that Libyan delegation jettisoned road transportation arrangements made for them by the NFF and instead hired buses on their own.

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