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Super Eagles caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen has revealed the shocking ordeal the Nigerian national team faced in Libya after they were held hostage at an abandoned airport, Soccernet.ng reports.
The team had travelled to Libya for the second leg of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against the Mediterranean Knights, only to be subjected to inhumane treatment upon arrival.
Speaking to reporters after the team's return to Nigeria on Monday evening, Eguavoen described the traumatic experience, which lasted nearly 20 hours.
“Thanks to the Libyans for letting us go, but it was a horrible 18-20 hours of experience, and we don’t want to go through that again,” Eguavoen said.
The Super Eagles were reportedly held at a remote airport, over two hours away from the match venue.
During this time, they were denied access to basic necessities, including food and water.
Eguavoen emphasised how this situation made it impossible for the team to compete under such circumstances.
“We were held hostage, we could not have played this match under these conditions,” he explained.
Reflecting on the broader impact of the incident, Eguavoen added,
“We know how football can unite the entire world, but for them to act like this, I cannot comprehend seriously. It was strange.
“CAF are human; they would do their investigations and come up with solutions.”
As a result of this ordeal, the Super Eagles pulled out of the match, which was scheduled for Tuesday, leaving CAF with the responsibility of deciding whether the game will be rescheduled or if the points will be forfeited.
Meanwhile, the Libya Football Federation (LFF) has condemned Nigeria’s withdrawal from the game, vowing to take legal action.
In a statement, the LFF claimed their delegation was poorly treated during the first leg of the fixture in Nigeria, which Nigeria won 1-0.
The Libyans accused the Nigeria Football Federation of not cooperating according to CAF regulations, further escalating tensions between both federations.
As CAF prepares to investigate, the outcome of this dispute remains uncertain.
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In the instance of this second leg fixture, Libya forgets that she is accountable to CAF on how she treated Nigeria, and not Nigeria to CAF on how it treated Libya. Libya made no complain to CAF about Nigeria on the first leg. We know what they say that 2 wrongs don’t make.
boss, two wrongs do make a right. in fact, it is the best way to make a right.
USA bombed Japan after Japan bombed pearl harbor.
the war ended afterwards.
Robert Green said, when you meet a sword man, draw your sword and don’t use words.
9ja did first and deserves similar treatment, simple.
CAF has the final say here, however I think the LFF needs to pay direly for such inhumane act. If the match should be rescheduled, both teams should play in on a neutral ground. not Nigeria or Libya.
CAF need to investigate the matter and let the LFF pay dearly for the way Nigerian players and the official were treated. the Tunisian pilot narrated how the flight was diverted. I am aviator, I understood what it means when flight is been diverted to unserviceable airport even at when the flight is descending, that is about to land. that can lead to casualties
It was pretty obvious the Libyans were & still trying to throw spanners in the work of the Super Eagles. Remember that right from the blast of the whistle in the 1st leg it was delay tactics they adopted, not even been defensive until they were down by a goal and then they complained that the injury time was not adequate and then this. This is not football that we know. It must be a must win affair. When we had consequent draws in the world cup qualifiers we took it in good fate and working hard to get to the right path to qualification. I hope CAF will not be biased in their investigations and apply the right sanction to the guilty party.
In my opinion we await CAF’s response and decision. Libya didn’t complain before now so why the sudden tantrums
Libya should go and ask south Africa how they feel when Nigeria revenge on their stupidity on Nigeria when south African were booking Nigeria Urban taxi online from South Africa. when Nigerians reacted they started crying, when Nigerians started ordering(booking )south African Bot taxi from Nigeria including ordering(buying) something online via pay on delivery. they started crying and begging. Libya should be careful, the whole world is afraid of Nigerians .