Nigeria have been awarded a 3-0 victory over Libya, and three vital points, from their scheduled AFCON qualifier. The match was canceled after they refused to play for being left stranded in remote Libyan airport before the match. The disciplinary committee of CAF on Saturday awarded the match to Nigeria 3-0, putting them on top of Group D.
With two games remaining, the three points moved Nigeria to 10 points, ahead of Benin and Rwanda respectively. Libya is in last place with just one point after four games. The top two groups will go to Morocco for the AFCON finals in 2025.
Citing abuse upon arrival, almost 48 hours prior to kickoff, Nigeria declined to play the match on October 15. Their charter flight was diverted on approach to Benghazi and ended up landing in Bayda. Nigerian authorities and players were left stranded at the airport for over 16 hours, nearly 250 kilometers from their destination.
They claimed that, they were unable to get food or drink and were not in communication with Libyan authorities. As a result, they chose to return to Nigeria by plane rather than play the match. The footballers from Nigeria were trapped in the Bayda airport.
The LFF stated that the event was not intentional and that their players had also experienced travel issues in Nigeria. However, CAF determined that Libya had violated the competition rules. The host association must properly welcome visiting teams, assist them with entry procedures, and provide a bus.
According to CAF, Libya was fined $50,000 and Nigeria was given the match with a 3-0 result. When Libya’s jet landed far from the match location and the players had to endure lengthy travel delays. LFF complained about the treatment of their officials and players upon landing in Nigeria for their qualifier on October 11. That game was won 1-0 by Nigeria.
Their approach in the lead-up to the return match four days later was heavily denounced throughout the continent as pushing gamesmanship too far and was viewed as a tit-for-tat tactic. It also brought attention to how visiting teams are routinely treated poorly when they play around Africa, whether in club or national team events.
Earlier this week, Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF, stated that his organization was considering strengthening its rules and regulations in order to discourage mistreatment of visiting teams. African football is known for treating foreign teams poorly. Common tactics include long and convoluted bus rides, delays at immigration upon arrival, and the provision of subpar training facilities.
