The Confederation of African Football has established a disciplinary panel, led by Senegal’s Ousmane Kane, to investigate the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Libya and Nigeria, Soccernet.ng reports.
The match, scheduled to be held in Benina near Benghazi, was called off after Nigeria withdrew, citing safety concerns and hostile reception from the hosts.
The Nigerian delegation claimed they were detained for nearly 16 hours at a Libyan airport from Sunday to Monday without any assistance from Libyan authorities or their football federation.
According to the Nigerian officials, no one was present to receive them, and they were denied entry into Libya. After waiting for hours, they even offered to make their own logistical arrangements, but were still refused access.
CAF has assembled a disciplinary committee to address the incident, which includes members such as Jane Njeri Onyango of Kenya (Vice-President), South Africa’s Norman Arendse, Mohamed Mostafa El-mashta of Egypt, and other representatives from Chad, Lesotho, Niger, Uganda, and Sierra Leone.
Interestingly, Nigeria’s own Justice Roli Daibo Harriman serves as the president of CAF’s Appeal Board, with Cape Verde’s Faustino Varela Monteiro as vice president.
CAF issued a statement on Monday, condemning the situation and vowing to hold accountable those responsible for the mistreatment of the Nigerian team.
“CAF views the disturbing and unacceptable experiences of the Nigerian National Football Team (Super Eagles) at an airport in Libya in a severe light,” the statement read.
The panel will now investigate and decide on any disciplinary action ahead of further AFCON qualifiers.
