The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has reacted to the viral Super Eagles being held hostage at a local airport for many long hours after their chartered ValueJet aircraft was diverted from Benghazi to the smaller Al Abraq International Airport.
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The Super Eagles of Nigeria were due to play Libya in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday night for the second leg. However, upon landing at Al Abraq International Airport, the Libyan Football Federation failed to provide transportation, food, or any communication regarding the team’s journey.
The chaos and the improper treatment of the Nigerian team led Troost-Ekong, captain of the Super Eagles, on Monday to disclose the Nigerian national team will boycott the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Libya.
“We have maintained a positive spirit, but these are unacceptable conditions. Traveling by road is not safe here, and we can only imagine how we would be treated in the hotel or the food they would try to give us. It was funny before, but as a team, we respect ourselves, and under these conditions, we won’t play.”
The Nigerian captain further revealed a disturbing incident where the Tunisian pilot was accepted at nearby hotels, but Nigerian aircrew members were not. “Even our pilot, who is Tunisian, wasn’t locked in like a hostage, came back hours later. He was told in every nearby hotel they would only accept him and none of the Nigerian aircrew members. Are we still talking about international football?”
After the chaotic incident, the CAF denounced the treatment of the Super Eagles in Libya as unacceptable. They confirmed that a further investigation will be conducted and appropriate action will be taken. This will be communicated through their media page on X, previously known as Twitter.
Some of the Libyan fans accuse that this was in retaliation for the treatment the Libyan squad received in Nigeria. However, the Super Eagles of Nigeria are believed to have finally left the airport on Monday afternoon as they returned to their home soil, Nigeria.
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