In Libya, Beninese footballers are in turn paying the price for the poor reception given to African teams

The Beninese will long remember their trip to Tripoli, Monday November 18, where they faced Libya on the last day of the qualifiers for the 2025 African Cup of Nations (CAN). Thanks to the draw obtained against the Knights of the Mediterranean (0-0), the Cheetahs validated their participation in the final phase, a first since the 2019 edition in Egypt. But the hours that followed this performance did not really allow them to celebrate this qualification.

Joined by The World Tuesday morning, goalkeeper Saturnin Allagbé was still marked by what he experienced with the staff and his teammates. “Before the match, our anthem was whistled, projectiles were thrown towards our sidelines. On the pitch, the Libyan players, who could still qualify if they beat us, were very angry and put pressure on the referee at the slightest opportunity.traces the player from Botev Vratsa (Bulgaria).

Then the situation quickly deteriorated after the final whistle, as the Beninese returned to the locker room. “There were again projectiles thrown in our direction. Members of our staff also received blows »continues the Beninese goalkeeper. “Our Tunisian video analyst was chased and beaten. We then spent more than an hour and a half locked in our locker room,” continues Gernot Rohr, the Franco-German coach of the Guépards.

The intimidation did not stop there, since several members of the Beninese delegation were beaten by Libyan police officers inside the bus which was to take them back to their Tripoli hotel. “In theory, they were there for our safety. And there, we see four or five police officers armed with their batons hitting the members of the technical staff and one of our security officers. It lasted several minutes, it was particularly shocking”says Saturnin Allagbé.

“Multiple harassments”

Gernot Rohr, who received a baton blow to one arm, specifies that several of his deputies were hit. “One of our security members was hit in the head. There were three or four injured even though there was no provocation on our part. It’s scandalous”the technician is indignant. These incidents disrupted the plans of the Beninese, who were in a hurry to leave Libya after their return to the hotel. “We were obviously a little scared with everything that had happened. The Beninese government therefore decided to charter a private plane to pick us up and bring us back to Cotonou”indicates Saturnin Allagbé.

These new events come a month after Nigeria obtained from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a victory on the green carpet (3-0) against Libya due to the poor reception which had been reserved for the Super Eagles. Their plane, which was to land in Benghazi, was diverted without explanation to Al Abrak airport, more than 200 km away. After being locked up in the terminal for more than twelve hours, without food or water, the Nigerians refused to go to Benghazi by road. They finally left Libya without playing after their government urgently sent a plane to repatriate them.

In November 2023, then in September 2024, the selections of Cameroon and Rwanda had already encountered similar problems during their stay in Libya. “I wrote to CAF to protest against the multiple harassments that we had had to endure and to be surprised that international matches could take place in this country when clearly, all the conditions were not met”deplores Adolphe Kalisa, the secretary general of the Rwandan Football Federation. After the violence suffered by the Beninese in Tripoli, the reaction of the CAF, whose leniency towards Libya calls into question within several African federations, is now expected.