The Nigeria team, which was to face Libya on Tuesday in qualifying for CAN 2025, decided not to play the match, saying it was the victim of “inhumane treatment” since its arrival in the country, the Nigerian Federation said on Monday ( NFF), which will repatriate the players during the day.
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The Super Eagles have been held at an abandoned airport in Libya for more than 15 hours before their chartered flight landed on Sunday. The Nigerian embassy cannot intervene because it needs permission from the Libyan government. An official complaint from the NFF has been sent to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Captain William Troost-Ekong said the team would not play the match and would not make the three-hour bus journey from Al-Abraq to Benina, where the match was to be played, for security reasons. “As team captain and with the team we have decided NOT to play this match,” he posted on social media. “Let’s give them the points.”
“We will not accept road travel here, even with security it is not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like if we continued,” he added.
“Libya should be banned from international football”
Former Nigerian soccer star Victor Ikpeba, who accompanied the team, called for tough sanctions against Libya and supported the decision to boycott the match. “If CAF does its job, Libya should be banned from international football,” he told AFP. “It’s a high-risk country and we really wonder who approved Libya playing their matches at home.”
“I played for the Super Eagles for 10 years and I have never experienced what I experienced in Libya in the last few hours,” he continued. “The team is not safe and those of us who travel with them are not safe either,” the former Monaco striker continued. “We were locked in an abandoned airport for more than 10 hours, like hostages.”
Nigeria, leading Group D with seven points in three matches, beat Libya (1-0) at home on Friday. The Libyans are last in the standings with just one point.
