The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is set to announce its decision on Wednesday regarding the disrupted AFCON Group D qualifier between Libya and Nigeria, which was originally scheduled for October 15 at the Benina Martyrs Stadium.
According to Libya Al-Ahrar Channel, CAF’s decision will address the players’ ordeal during the first leg in Nigeria, which ended 1-0 in favor of the Super Eagles, as well as the postponed reverse fixture that was to be held at Libya’s 10,550-capacity, first all-seater stadium.
Also, the Libyan Football Federation submitted all the documents it collected with a specialised lawyer assigned by the body to supervise the Libyan file with the Confederation of African Football.
A day after the botched encounter, CAF delisted the fixture from its calendar after announcing its cancellation hours before kick-off, with the matter referred to the Disciplinary Committee for consideration.
In its statement on Monday, the Libyan Football Federation denounced 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 had arrived for the match 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, and the Libyan Federation said that the Nigerians did not cooperate with them in any way, whether in the first or second leg, indicating that their experience is a child’s play compared to theirs while in Nigeria for the first leg.
CAF had described what happened to the Nigerian team in Libya as “extremely dangerous,” noting 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.
