By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
Never in the recent time has Nigeria’s senior football team Super Eagles suffered a humiliating treatment in the hands of a host country like what the team is currently going through at Al Abraq Airport in the remote part of Libya after the delegation’s chattered jet was diverted from Benghazi International Airport to Al Abraq Airport, a distance of three and half hours drive from the city of Benghazi.
As at the time of filing this report the Nigerian contingent is still stranded at the airport almost a day after the delegation arrived Libya ahead of Tuesday’s 2025 AFCON qualifier return leg match against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya.
The team’s chartered aircraft that conveyed the players and officials was, strangely and in a dangerous manner, diverted to the small airport away from Benghazi Benina International Airport,
Benghazi just as the pilot was completing his approach to the Benghazi Airport.
According to Ademola Olajire, NFF Director of Communications Al Abraq Airport is only used for hajj operations by the Libyan aviation authorities just as the fatigued players and officials have remained nonplussed as the host Libyan Football Federation failed to send any reception team or even vehicles to take the delegation members from the airport to their hotel, said to be three and half hours away in Benghazi.
Although he said the NFF made arrangements for separate vehicles for the team to be taken quickly to the hotel from the airport but the plan was unhinged by the diversion of the aircraft to Al Abraq Airport with the tired players now resolved not to play the match any longer as NFF officials are making plans to fly the team back home.
However, the Super Eagles ordeal in Libya is clearly a case of an accident foretold as the handwriting has been on the wall that the Libyans will retaliate the alleged cold treatment meted out to them by the NFF when they came to Nigeria last week for the Friday’s first leg of the double-header match against the Super Eagles at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
The Libyan delegation had complained bitterly that the Nigerian football authorities “abandoned” them to their faith when they arrived the country via Port Harcourt International Airport in River state and travelled long hours by road to Uyo without any type of assistance from the host federation.
Also, on match day the Libyan players and team officials exhibited a lot of unsportsmanship behaviour on the pitch especially after the match when they surrounded the Malawian match officials complaining bitterly that the added time was not fully exhausted.
Although the NFF dismissed the allegation of “abandonment” of the Libyan delegation with a wave of the hand, saying that the Libyans decided on their mode of travelling and port of entry after they were presented with the better option of landing their chattered aircraft at Obong Victor Attah International Airport in Uyo where the first leg tie took place with Nigeria defeating Libya 1-0, the NFF should have made a better arrangement to ferry the Super Eagles to Benghazi for the return leg match without involving the Libyan federation.
With the complaints of the visitors in mind, the NFF should have made different contingency plans including flying the players in groups into Benghazi, Libya using regular commercial flights from Nigeria or to fly the chattered jet aircraft to nearby countries of Niger Republic and Chad on the Southern part of Libya and move the delegation by regular commercial flights into Benina Benghazi International Airport.
This option would have saved the situation and destabilised the ulterior motives of the Libyan federation officials who were waiting to retaliate what they termed “unfriendly reception” when they visited Nigeria last week but which the NFF has denied outrightly.
Also, the NFF leadership would have returned the chattered aircraft back to Nigeria territory to lodge the players and await for the response of the Libyan authorities and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on the next line of action while petitioning the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) on the illegal diversion of the Super Eagles aircraft mid-air on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the federal government through the Federal Ministry of Sports should have intervened by directing the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to activate the diplomatic response to this developing scenario before the Nigerian delegation is exposed to security risks because the government of Libya is everything but stable.
Prompt News has reliably gathered that security situation in Libya is still fragile and it will be a very great risk for the Super Eagles to travel from Al Abraq Airport to Benghazi by road as they security of the players and officials are not guaranteed.
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