It has been reported that Nigeria is boycotting its AFCON qualifier match against Libya after the Super Eagles got stranded in an airport that is miles away from where they were supposed to land and stay for over 12 hours.
There plane was supposed to land over 200 kilometers away in Benghazi. However, the NFF said that the squad was stranded overnight at Al Abraq airport outside of Al Bayda, Libya.
This was after the aircraft was asked to divert to a different airport that was away from Benghazi by the Libyan government officials. The Nigerian Football Federation said;
“The chartered Value Jet aircraft was, strangely and in a dangerous manner, diverted to the small airport away from Benghazi just as the pilot was completing his approach to the Benghazi Airport. We understand the Al Abraq International Airport is only used for hajj operations.
“Fatigued players and officials have remained nonplussed as the host Libyan Football Federation (LFF) failed to send any reception team or even vehicles to take the delegation members from the airport to their hotel, said to be 3 hours away in Benghazi.”
The Libyan Football Federation claimed that the flight diversion was not intentional.
“We firmly reject any claims that suggest foul play or sabotage in this situation. We hope that this misunderstanding can be resolved with understanding and goodwill.”
The NFF said that transport had been organized for the team but was no longer in place due to the flight’s diversion. It is now a tricky situation as it has been reported that the LFF complained that they where treated poorly in Nigeria last week.
Could it be that Libya was trying to make a point or take its pound of flesh. ? This idea or suspicion can be cleared only if the Libyan authorities provide a solid reason for the sudden diversion of the flight to an abandoned airport as claimed by Troost Ekong on X.