President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe has reacted to the recent poor treatment of Nigeria’s national men’s football team, the Super Eagles at Libya’s Al Abraq Airport ahead of a planned match – redirecting the Super Eagles to a non-itenerary location and leaving them stranded for over 17 hours.
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to accountability in such matters saying; “When there was this problem of the Nigerian national team in Libya. I will not comment on that because there is a proper investigation [going on] but I want to emphasise the principle we will not tolerate. Because this is something that has been going on for quite some time. Forget about the Nigeria-Libya situation because it has been properly investigated and appropriate action will be taken.
I have heard too many stories of a football club or a national team going to a country. You spend hours at the airport and they ask you about documents that is not meant to be accessed.
And apparently during Covid, they will look at the 10 best players from your team and say those players have Covid.
These are lack of sportsmanship that has existed and we have not taken effective action.'”
Previously, CAF confirmed it had been in contact with both Libyan and Nigerian authorities after learning that th Nigerian national men’s football team and its officials were instructed by Libyan authorities to land under troubling conditions.
The statement read: “The matter has been referred to the CAF Disciplinary Board for investigation, and appropriate action will be taken against those who violated the CAF Statutes and Regulations.”
The Super Eagles, diverted to Al Abraq Airport—over two hours away from their intended destination—leaving the stranded for more than thirteen hours without transport provided by the Libyan Football Federation causing an outrage ahead of Nigeria’s crucial second-leg of AFCON qualifier against Libya, and postponement of the tournament.
