Africa Cup Of Nations Qualifiers: Nigeria Secures 3-0 Victory Against Libya Even Without Taking The Field After Airport Drama

The Nigerian players and officials were confined in an airport for more than 16 hours at a destination 250 kms away from the intended location

Bayda (Libya):The Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarded Nigeria a 3-0 victory and three vital points for their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier fixture earlier this month. Nigeria refused to play the match after being stuck in a remote airport in Libya for more than 16 hours.

The disciplinary committee of CAF took the decision and the addition of three more points to their tally has put Nigeria on the brink of qualifying for the tournament. The Nigerian side refused to play the scheduled match against Libya on October 15, citing the mistreatment on arrival in the country as the reason.

The chartered flight taking Nigerian players landed in Bayda instead of Benghazi which was the intended destination. They were kept in a locked airport in Bayda for more than 16 hours and the whole unit had no access to food or to the water and had no contact with the Libyan officials according to the Nigerian team. Thus, they decided to fly back home rather than play the fixture.

The Libya Football Federation stated that the incident was not deliberate and also mentioned their player faced travel issues while playing in Nigeria four days earlier.

CAF Found that Libya had violated the competition rules which state that visiting teams must be properly received by the host association. Libya was penalised with a fine of $50,000 and they will now have to pay it within 60 days.

Nigeria are now at the top of Group D with 10 points and two games remaining while Libya is in the last place with a single point from four matches. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the tournament.