The Libyan Football Federation has condemned Nigeria’s decision to withdraw from the scheduled 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers and threatened to take legal action to protect the national team’s interests.
The Super Eagles were stranded at Al Abak Airport for more than 13 hours after an unexpected diversion on Sunday, with Nigeria withdrawing from the match originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 15, citing safety concerns.
In a statement published in the Libya Observer, the LFF accused the Nigeria Football Federation of not cooperating in organizing the match and of creating the chaos that led to the current situation.
“The Libyan Football Federation condemns the action of the Nigerian Football Federation in refusing to host the African Cup of Nations qualifier match between Libya and Nigeria scheduled for Tuesday, October 15th, and will take all legal action,” the statement said. He emphasized. Maintaining the interests of the Libyan national football team. ”
The LFF also said that the uncontrollable events cannot be compared to what the Libyan team experienced in the first leg, suggesting that the Nigerian federation was responsible for mishandling in both the first and second legs. .
“The Libyan Federation, in cooperation with the Confederation of African Football, has attached an inhumane video that did not disrupt the Libyan team’s match between Nigeria and Libya, which took place in Nigeria last Friday.
“The Libyan Football Federation has made it clear that the Nigeria Football Federation did not cooperate in any way with respect to either the first leg match or the second leg match, and that events beyond our control were the events to which the Libyan national team was exposed. In the first-leg match, he pointed out that it did not amount to a fraction of that.
The statement also apologized to Libyan football fans for the confusion and delays in match arrangements, attributing these issues to the actions of the Nigeria Football Federation.
“The Libyan Football Federation apologizes to Libyan football fans around the world and those involved in arranging the match for the disruption caused by the Nigeria Football Federation and for the match not being held on time,” the statement concluded. .
The controversy erupted after a photo of the Super Eagles team sleeping on the bench went viral early on Monday, prompting condemnation from Nigerian authorities.
The situation worsened as athletes, pilots and other personnel were stranded at Libyan airports for more than 13 hours without access to essentials such as food, water and rest areas.
Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong described the situation at Al Abak Airport as “disgraceful” and expressed concern that the Libyan authorities intended to revoke landing permits and leave the team stranded without basic amenities. accused of playing “mind games”.
