In what physical and psychological state will Moses Simon return from this international break? The Canaries striker, who is due to play with the FCN on Sunday against Nice at La Beaujoire, was stranded with his Nigeria selection at an airport in Libya – where he was to play a qualifying match for CAN 2025 tomorrow – “more than 15 hours without drink, without food and in a world infested with mosquitoes with a ban on going out by the Libyan authorities”according to the Nigerian Ministry of Sports. “It was, we can say, a hostage situation”he continued in his press release. The Super Eagles plane, which was due to land in Benghazi, was diverted to Al-Abraq.
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This situation was strongly denounced by the Nigerian Football Federation, which sent an official complaint to the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Captain William Troost-Ekong made several tweets to explain the situation. “More than twelve hours in an abandoned airport in Libya after our plane was hijacked during descent. The government canceled our landing in Benghazi for no reason. They locked the airport gates leaving us without telephone connection, food or drink. » He himself informed of the team’s desire not to play the match.
Moses Simon also communicated on social networks with photos showing the entire selection locked in a room with players and staff members lying on seats… “I want to go home…”notably tweeted the best Nantes player since the start of the season.
The Libyan Federation, for its part, published a press release to deny any intentional act. She says to herself “deeply concerned” advance that “Such incidents may occur due to routine air traffic control protocols, security checks or logistical difficulties that affect international air transport”. She also states that there is no “no reason to accuse Libyan security teams or the Libyan Federation of deliberately orchestrating the incident”.
Around 3 p.m., William Troost-Ekong posted on X that the plane was about to take off again towards Nigeria. “The power of social media. Apparently our plane is refueling as we speak and we should be leaving for Nigeria soon. Thank you all for your support! »
