Nigeria’s Super Eagles boycott Libya match over 'mind games'

The Nigerian men's soccer team has pulled out of its Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Libya in protest at being abandoned at an airport after their plane was diverted.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) on Monday said they would fly the country's men's team home without playing a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier after alleged poor treatment.

The "Super Eagles" squad complained that they had been held at an abandoned airport for more than 15 hours, days after Libya's captain complained that his team had been treated poorly when it played in Nigeria.

What happened to the players?

They had been due to play hosts Libya in the city of Benghazi, where they hoped to wrap up qualification for a place in the finals in Morocco late next year.

Their plane was diverted at the last minute to Al Abraq airport, some 220 kilometers (about 135 miles) away.

"Players have resolved not to play the match any longer as NFF officials are making plans to fly the team back home," said NFF director of communications, Ademola Olajire.

Captain William Troost-Ekong said the team could not play the game and they would not take a three-hour bus ride from Al Abraq to the venue for safety reasons.

"As the captain, together with the team, we have decided that we will not play this game," Troost-Ekong said on X. "Let them have the points."

"The Libyan government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason," Troost-Ekong said. "They've locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food, or drink. All to play mind games."

Troost-Ekong said the Tunisian pilot mentioned that Nigerian members of his crew had been refused by local hotels "under government instruction."

He said the team had called the Nigerian government and asked for them to intervene.

"We will not accept to travel anywhere by road here even with security; it's not safe. We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like given to us if we continued."

A formal complaint by Nigeria has been sent to the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Return-leg revenge?

Former African footballer of the year Victor Ikpeba, who was with the team in Libya, urged tough sanctions against Libya and backed the decision to boycott the match.

"If CAF know their job, Libya ought to be banned from international football," he told the AFP news agency.

Among Nigeria's squad are Ademola Lookman, who scored a hat trick for Atalanta in the Europa League final last season and who is on the Ballon d'Or shortlist, and the Bundesliga's Victor Boniface, a striker for German champions Bayer Leverkusen.

The first leg between the two, in which Nigeria won 1-0 on Friday, involved similar accusations of sabotage by the Libya team.

It accused Nigeria of maltreatment ahead of the game, an allegation the Nigerian Football Federation denied.

Libya captain Faisal Al-Badri said they were delayed "from one city to another" for three hours after their bags were searched.

They were then sent on a road trip to the city where the match was played.

"This is not the first time we have been maltreated in Africa. We express the need for reciprocity," Al-Badri had said.

rc/lo (AFP, dpa)