from AHMED ZAYED in Benghazi, Libya
BENGHAZI, (CAJ News) – TIT-FOR-TAT kind of approach has seen the eagerly anticipated clash between Libya and Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations Group D qualifier encounter on Tuesday night (today) being cancelled.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria boycotted the match citing unfriendly football environment in accusing the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) of employing the ‘guerrilla tactics’ ahead of the game.
Earlier on Monday the Nigerian players had claimed to have been left stuck at the Benghazi airport for almost 15 hours with no food, Wi-Fi or place to sleep ahead of their match on Tuesday night hence boycotting.
However, the African continent’s football experts, fans, administrators and general public view the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) as the trouble makers having started such dirty game tactics against the visiting Libyans right from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (IATA) in Lagos straight to the match venue in Uyo.
Libya narrowly lost the first leg 0-1 to the hosts Nigeria, but planned to retaliate the ill-treatment by Nigerians.
One Libyan football fan, Mohammed Alsade, queried the loudest crying Nigerians arguing that the West African nation were the ones to start such dirty football antics hence the reciprocal.
“The (Libyan) players were detained for 3 hours at Lagos airport. The Libyan team players were not allowed to sit on chairs for those 3 hours, and were forced to sleep on the airport floor,” claimed Alsade.
He added: “The Nigerian Football Federation did not send a special bus to receive the teams, and they transported our (Libyan) team in three buses for a distance of 200 kilometers to the city of Uyo, although the Libyan team arrived by private plane, but the Nigerian authorities insisted on landing (them) at Lagos airport, and not Uyo airport, in the city of the match stadium.”
Actually, the distance between Lagos and Uyo is 611km by air, and 662.2km by air.
The Libyans argue that their team was subjected to a comprehensive search inside the plane, in addition to a 3-hour delay in transportation between cities, and was prevented from using the private plane.
“There was no police patrol (in Nigeria) for security. The team buses took unpaved paths in complete darkness, on a five-hour journey through dangerous places. The (Libyan( team arrived at the hotel late at night, with the reasons for reduced accommodation. It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the Libyan team and the Arab teams have been subjected to such ill-treatment in Africa.”
In a statement on Monday, the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) vehemently dismissed the Nigeria claims of ill-treatment arguing: “We reject any claims that suggest foul play or sabotage in this situation.”
“There are no grounds to accuse the…Libyan Football Federation of deliberately orchestrating the incident. Such actions are inconsistent with our values and principles. It is important to highlight that just last week our own national team faced significant challenges upon arrival in Nigeria.”
Reacting to the aborted Libyan football mission, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) said the only possible action was to boycott the match in Libya citing unfriendly environment.
“The chartered ValueJet aircraft was, strangely and in a dangerous manner, diverted to the small airport away from Benghazi just as the pilot was completing his approach to the Benghazi Airport. We understand the Al Abraq International Airport is only used for hajj operations,” reads the Nigerian statement.
It further mentioned: “Fatigued players and officials have remained nonplussed as the host Libyan Football Federation failed to send any reception team or even vehicles to take the delegation members from the airport to their hotel, said to be 3 hours away in Benghazi.”
The NFF alleged that they made their own arrangements for separate vehicles for the team but the plan was unhinged by the diversion of the aircraft.
“Players have resolved not to play the match any longer as NFF officials are making plans to fly the team back home.”
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) also issued their own statement saying they had been in contact with Libyan and Nigerian authorities.
“The matter has been referred to the CAF disciplinary board for investigation and appropriate action will be taken against those who violated CAF statutes and regulations,” it said.
Football journalists and administrators weighed in saying CAF should have banned all matches being played in Libya citing a country ruled by two different governments.
Libya has been in a shaky political environment following the United States sponsored war machine that killed former Libyan president Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
AFCON full fixtures for Tuesday, 15th October 2024.
Chad vs Zambia
Lesotho vs Gabon
Malawi vs Senegal
South Sudan vs Uganda
Sudan vs Ghana
Tanzania vs DR Congo
Botswana vs Cape Verde
Congo vs South Africa
Guinea-Bissau vs Mali
Mauritania vs Egypt
Niger vs Angola
Rwanda vs Benin
Sierra Leone vs Cote d’Ivoire
Central African Republic vs Morocco
Comoros vs Tunisia
Ethiopia vs Guinea
– CAJ News