The Confederation of African Football (CAF) will make a decision on Wednesday regarding the cancelled AFCON qualification Group D match between Libya and Nigeria at Benina Martyrs Stadium on October 15.
According to Libya Al-Ahrar Channel, the apex continental football body will announce the final decision on the players’ ordeal during the first leg in Nigeria in October, which ended 1-0 in favour of the Super Eagles, as well as the reverse fixture, which would have taken place at Libya’s first all-seater stadium, with a capacity of 10,550.
The site also revealed that the Libyan Football Federation shared all of the documents it gathered with a qualified lawyer appointed by the authority to oversee the Libyan file with the Confederation of African Football.
A day after the cancelled match, CAF removed the event from its calendar after announcing its cancellation hours before kickoff, and the incident was sent to the Disciplinary Committee for review.
The Libyan Football Federation issued a statement on Monday condemning Nigeria’s actions in response to the team’s refusal to play its match against Libya.
The Federation stated that it would take all legal action to protect the interests of the national football team.
Nigeria arrived for the match on Sunday, October 14, only to have their flight redirected to Al Abraq International Airport, which is almost three hours by car from Benghazi, the event’s venue.
The Libyan authorities detained them for about 17 hours, leaving them traumatised as they went back to their own nation.
Nigeria filed a protest with CAF, bemoaning their situation, and the Libyan Federation stated that the Nigerians did not collaborate with them in any manner, whether in the first or second leg, implying that their experience was child’s play in comparison to theirs when in Nigeria for the first leg.
The CAF condemned what happened to the Nigerian squad in Libya as “extremely dangerous,” stressing that it had contacted Libyan and Nigerian officials after learning that the latter had been subjected to alarming conditions at the airport for hours.
It reported the incident to its disciplinary committee, which will investigate and take appropriate action against individuals who breached the regulations.
