The Libyan Football Federation has vehemently said that Nigeria should be held responsible for the abandoned Tuesday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Benghazi after the Super Eagles refused to honour the match over maltreatment by Libyan authorities on arriving in the country.
In a video posted by the Eagles media team, the players and officials were left stranded with their luggage at the airport, with the Libyan airport officials indifferent to their plight and conversing in Arabic.
Libya were scheduled to host the three-time African champions at the 10,000-capacity Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benina, located just 10 kilometres from Benghazi, but their plane was diverted to the Al Abraq Airport, which is over 200 km and three and a half hours drive away from the planned campsite.
After being held hostage at the Al Abraq International Airport for over 20 hours without food or water and completely shut out of the world, the Eagles boycotted the second leg of the AFCON qualifiers against the Mediterranean Knights and returned to Nigeria on Monday night.
In response, the Confederation of African Football announced on Tuesday that the match will no longer be held.
“The TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 qualifier fixture between Libya and Nigeria will not take place as scheduled tonight. The matter will be referred to the competent CAF bodies,” read a short statement from CAF on Tuesday.
CAF had earlier announced launching an investigation into the incident after the Libya Football Federation alleged sabotage and threatened legal action against Nigeria.
Reacting to the statement, Libya, in another statement, apologizes to their fans but deplores the actions taken by the NFF, adding that it would take all legal measures to protect the interests of the national team.
“The Libyan Federation denounces the actions taken by the Nigerian Football Federation by refusing to participate in the Libyan-Nigerian cup qualification match scheduled for Tuesday, October 15, and affirms that it will take all legal measures to safeguard the interests of Libya’s first team.
“The Libyan Federation attaches some inhumane footage that did not prevent the Libyan missions from participating in the Nigeria-Libya game last Friday on Nigerian soil, motivated by cooperation with the African Football Federation. The Libyan Football Federation apologises to Libyan audiences everywhere and to the parties involved in the match because of the confusion caused by the Nigerian Football Federation for not having the game on time,” the translated statement read.
The LFF had earlier complained about the treatment of their players and officials on arrival in Nigeria for the first leg in Uyo last week, having directed their flight to land in Port Harcourt instead of Uyo, the match venue where the NFF were eagerly waiting to receive them.
Nigeria won the match 1-0, maintaining their pole position in Group D and putting them in good stead to secure a ticket to the finals in Morocco in July next year, which will feature the top two teams in each qualification pool.