The Nigerian men’s soccer team has returned home after being stranded at a remote airport in Libya for over 15 hours, according to the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and team captain William Troost-Ekong.
The Super Eagles were scheduled to play Libya in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier in Benghazi on Tuesday.
However, the NFF has confirmed that the players have decided not to participate in the match.
In a social media statement, the NFF explained that the team had been stranded at Al Abraq International Airport, located outside Al Bayda, Libya.
Their chartered flight, originally intended to land in Benghazi, was diverted to the smaller airport, which is typically used for hajj operations and is located more than 200 kilometers from Benghazi.
“The ValueJet aircraft was unexpectedly and dangerously diverted to this small airport just as the pilot was preparing to land in Benghazi,” said the NFF.
“The players and officials were left stranded with no reception or transportation from the Libyan Football Federation (LFF), despite the distance to the hotel in Benghazi being three hours.”
The NFF added that although transportation had been arranged, it was no longer available due to the flight’s sudden diversion.
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) responded to the incident by expressing respect for the Nigerian team and claiming the flight diversion was not intentional.
“We reject any claims of foul play or sabotage. We hope this misunderstanding can be resolved with goodwill,” said the LFF.
This situation follows previous tensions between the two teams, with the NFF last week denying allegations of poor treatment made by Libyan captain Faisal Al-Badri, accusing the LFF of creating “chaos for its own team.”
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has acknowledged the situation and stated that it is investigating the matter.
CAF said it had been informed that the Super Eagles and their technical team were “stranded in disturbing conditions for several hours at an airport they were instructed to land at by the Libyan authorities.”
The governing body has referred the matter to its Disciplinary Board for investigation.
Team captain William Troost-Ekong took to social media to express frustration over what he described as “mind games” by Libyan authorities.
“We were stranded for over 12 hours in an abandoned airport after our plane was diverted while descending into Benghazi.
The Libyan government rescinded our landing approval without explanation, locking the airport gates and leaving us without food, drink, or phone connection,” he wrote.
Troost-Ekong also criticized the conditions they faced, saying, “I’ve seen things playing in Africa before, but this was disgraceful.
Even the Tunisian pilot had never encountered anything like it. If this is the treatment, let them have the points. We won’t risk our safety by traveling by road here, even with security.”
He also emphasized the difference in how Nigeria treats its visitors: “We would never treat a guest nation like this. Delays and mistakes happen, but never on purpose.”
The defender later confirmed that the team had safely returned to Nigeria, sharing images of players trying to sleep at the airport and reiterating his belief that there had been an intentional attempt to disrupt the team.
Source-CNN
