Nigeria have pulled out of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in opposition to Libya on Monday, in line with their captain William Troost-Ekong and the Nigeria Soccer Federation (NFF), in protest at their flight to the nation being diverted earlier than gamers and workers have been deserted for hours in an airport removed from the match venue.
The Tremendous Eagles have been because of play hosts Libya within the metropolis of Benghazi, the place they hoped to seal a qualification berth for the finals in Morocco late subsequent 12 months.
However after being stranded for greater than 16 hours at an airport 250 km (155 miles) away from their meant vacation spot, the Nigeria gamers mentioned they won’t fulfil the fixture and the NFF issued an announcement.
“The delegation of Nigeria to Tuesday’s 2025 AFCON qualifier in opposition to Libya nonetheless remained on the Al Abraq Airport 12 hours after touchdown in Libya,” the assertion mentioned.
“The chartered ValueJet plane was, unusually and in a harmful method, diverted to the small airport away from Benghazi simply because the pilot was finishing his method to the Benghazi Airport.
“Fatigued gamers and officers have remained nonplussed because the host Libyan Soccer Federation didn’t ship any reception staff and even autos to take the delegation members from the airport to their lodge, mentioned to be 3 hours away in Benghazi.
“Gamers have resolved to not play the match any longer as NFF officers are planning to fly the staff again house.”
Troost-Ekong mentioned on X: “Because the captain, along with the staff, we now have determined that we are going to not play this sport. Apparently our airplane is being fueled as we converse and we needs to be leaving to Nigeria shortly.”
CAF said in a statement that they’d been in touch with each nations’ soccer federations and that the “matter has been referred to the CAF Disciplinary Board for investigation and acceptable motion might be taken in opposition to those that violated the CAF Statutes and Laws.”
The Libyan Soccer Federation mentioned the incident was not deliberate and urged Nigeria to be understanding.
“We’ve got the utmost respect for our Nigerian counterparts and need to reassure them that the diversion of their flight was not intentional,” it mentioned, including that disruptions can happen from routine air visitors protocols, safety checks or different logistical challenges.
“We firmly reject any claims that counsel foul play or sabotage on this scenario. We hope that this misunderstanding could be resolved with understanding and goodwill.”
Nigeria striker Victor Boniface complained he had been caught on the airport for nearly 13 hours with no meals, WiFi or place to sleep. “Africa, we are able to do higher,” he mentioned on X.
It’s unclear what is going to occur to the factors from the sport with the matter more likely to be referred to CAF’s Disciplinary Board.
Nigeria beat Libya 1-0 within the reverse fixture in Uyo on Friday due to a late aim from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, taking them to seven factors from three video games of their group.
Benin have six factors, Rwanda two and Libya one. The highest two groups in every group advance to the 24-team finals.
Info from ESPN’s Colin Udoh contributed to this report.