AFCON: Libya And Nigeria’s Case Conclusion By CAF

On Wednesday, October 23, the Confederation of African Football, CAF, will announce its decision on the botched AFCON qualifying match between Libya and Nigeria. The match was scheduled for Benina Martyrs Stadium on October 1st.

According to Libya Al-Ahrar Channel, the continental football body will announce the final decision. This is in regards to the players’ ordeal during the first leg in Nigeria in October. Which ended 1-0 in favour of the Super Eagles. Also, the reverse fixture that would have held at the 10,550-capacity, Libya’s first all-seater stadium.

It has also been revealed that the Libyan football federation, has submitted all it’s documents. It collated all with a specialized lawyer, assigned by the body to supervise the Libyan file with be CAF.

A day after the botched encounter, CAF delisted the fixture from its calendar. This was after announcing its cancellation hours before kick-off. The matter was then referred to the Disciplinary Committee for consideration.

On Monday, October 21, the Libyan Football Federation, denounced in a statement, the measures taken by the Nigerian side regarding the team’s refusal to play its match against Libya.

The Federation confirmed that it would take all legal measures to preserve the interests of the national football team.

Nigeria arrived in Libya on Sunday, October 14, only for their flight to be diverted to Al Abraq International Airport. Which is about three hours away by road to Benghazi, the venue of the match.

The Libyan authorities held them captive for approximately 17 hours, leaving them traumatized as they flew back to their home country.

Nigeria lodged a complaint with CAF lamenting their ordeal. Then the Libyan Federation said that the Nigerians did not cooperate with them in any way, whether in the first or second leg.

They indicated that their experience is a child’s play compared to theirs while in Nigeria for the first leg.

CAF described what happened to the Nigerian team in Libya as “extremely dangerous.’ They noted that it had contacted the Libyan and Nigerian authorities after reporting that the latter had been subjected to worrying conditions for hours at the airport.

It referred the matter to its disciplinary committee to investigate and take appropriate action against those who violated the regulations.