Nigeria’s national team were held ‘hostage’ in a locked airport ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier clash with Libya, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday evening.
The Super Eagles beat Libya 1-0 on Friday evening in a dramatic clash which saw Fisayo Dele-Bashiru come off of the bench to bag a late winner for his side. However, it is unclear whether the return leg of the match will go ahead.
Whilst Nigeria travelled to northern Africa for the match at the Benina Martyrs Stadium, the Libyan Government allegedly intervened to order that the chartered flight be diverted to the Al-Abraw Airport – which is just under a four-hour drive away from the ground.
The reasoning behind the last-minute change is unclear, though some Nigerian stars have hinted online that they feel that Libya are retaliating after claims that they were not treated well ahead of their defeat last week.
Several Premier League players were therefore forced to remain within the confines of the abandoned airport without any sort of explanation about what had happened and how they would travel the rest of the journey.
Nottingham Forest duo Ola Aina Taiwo Awoniyi, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Fulham pair Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi are among those in the Super Eagles’ squad who have been held ‘hostage’.
Nigeria players are furious with how the situation has panned out and will reportedly push for the match to not go ahead on Tuesday in protest. Several stars have hit out with how they have been treated online, with skipper William Troost-Ekong writing on X that his team have decided they will not play the return leg. He said: “12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Lybia after our plane was diverted whilst descending. Lybian government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason.
“They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games. I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour. Even the Tunisian pilot who thankfully managed to navigate the last-minute change to an airport not fit for our plane to land had never seen something like this before.
“Upon arrival, he tried to find a nearby airport to rest with his crew to be denied at every hotel again under Government instruction. He could sleep there but NO NIGERIAN crew members allowed. They have returned to now sleep on the plane which is parked up.
“At this point, we have called for our Nigerian Government to intervene and rescue us. As the captain together with the team we have decided that we will NOT play this game. CAF should look at the report and what is happening here. Even if they decide to allow this kind of behaviour, let them have the points.
“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. We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with international football.”
