Confederation of African Football, CAF, has punished Libya for a hostile reception of the Nigerian delegates for the 2025 AFCON qualifiers in October.
The African football’s governing body went hard on Libya for their role in the cancellation of the 2025 AFCON qualifiers between the Mediterranean Knights and the Super Eagles of Nigeria.
The match which was slated for Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benina, Libya was cancelled after Nigeria’s delegation decided to walk away from the fixture due to poor treatment on arrival in Libya.
The Nigerian contingent were expected to land in Benghazi but their flight was ‘dangerously diverted’ as reported by the Nigeria Football Federation.
The Super Eagles were taken to an abandoned Airport at Al ABraq where they could not access water, food, and internet for several hours. Some whacked-out Super Eagles players were seen dozing off on cosy benches.
Super Eagles captain William-Troost Ekong revealed the team was denied access to facilities at the Airport while their Tunisian pilot was allowed entry.
Due to the poor treatment, the team decided to walk away from the fixture and travel back to Nigeria with CAF urged to look into the incident.
CAF award Nigeria three points, three goals, punishes Libya
Now, CAF have penalized Libya for their role in the cancellation of the fixure.
A statement to the effect of the penalty confirmed CAF Disciplinary Board have met and deliberated on the issue and have found the North African country guilty of Nigeria’s allegations.
The statement clearly stated that Nigeria have been awarded three points and three goals with Libya declared to have lost the game.
Also, Libya have been slammed with a fine of £50,000 and further motions to the effect of the punishment summarily dismissed.
The full statement, as culled from CAF website, reads thus:
“The CAF Disciplinary Board met to deliberate on the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifier that was scheduled between Libya and Nigeria.
“The Disciplinary Board decided as follows;
“Libya Football Federation was found to have breached Article 31 of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
“The match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the TotalEnergies CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).
“The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000. The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision.
“All other and further motions or prayers for relief are dismissed.”
Notably, Libya did not dispute Nigeria’s claims that their flight was forcefully diverted to Al ABraq airport. However, they argued it was on the orders of the Libyan government. Nigeria then refused to honor match to the subtle dark and psychological maiming tactics.
The three points awarded means Nigeria have now gone top of 2025 AFCON Group D with 10 points in four matches.
It is yet unclear whether the Libyan Football Federation will appeal the decision but as things stand, Nigeria have won the case in CAF’s court.
Libya are stuck at the bottom of the group with just a point from three games and are at the risk of crashing out of the competition. They will return to action in the competition on November 14, 2024 against Rwanda while Nigeria will travel to take on Benin Republic on the same date.
Nigeria captain William-Troost reacts to CAF ruling
Nigeria Super Eagles captain William-Troost Ekong upheld and retweeted CAF’s ruling on his handle.
He wrote, “JUSTICE: CAF awards three points and three goals to Nigeria. Libya fined $50,000.
“Plane was diverted 300km from scheduled airport even when the pilot told them he was low on fuel.
“One step closer to our target AFCON 2025 🇳🇬.
Nigeria have now edged close to sealing qualification for the tournament in Morocco. A win against Benin Republic will secure the team’s pot in the competition.
