AFCONQ: Time for CAF to Take Drastic Actions Against Dark Arts in Football

By Harry Awurumibe, Editor-in-Chief, Abuja

Against the backdrop of  the botched Libya versus Nigeria 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) return leg match billed for Martyrs of February Stadium, Benghazi on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 following the inhuman treatment meted out to Nigeria’s senior football team, Super Eagles at Al Abraq Airport in the remote part of Libya where the delegation’s chattered aircraft that conveyed the players and officials from Nigeria to honour the tie in Libya was diverted to land instead of the original destination of Benina International Airport in Benghazi, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) now has a golden opportunity to wield the big stick against any country that subjects opponents to such a harrowing experience the Nigerian delegation suffered in Libya.

Indeed, the Libyan authorities took the ugly side of African football to a higher level after the Nigerian delegation were  kept incommunicado at the none functional airport for more than 15 hours after arrival in the Libyan territory just as the Nigerian contingent  were denied exit from the airport and also food and water.

Attempts by top officials of the Nigerian delegation to access the outside of the airport’s arrival hall to make alternative arrangements to ferry Super Eagles players to Benghazi were also met with a fisticuffs as Libyan airport officials and security agencies beat back the Nigerians.

Worse still, the aircraft which was diverted mid-air to land at Al Abraq Airport was also  refused to refuel at the airport while the crew members were mistreated by the Libyan authorities who insisted that they were acting on “orders from above”.

At this point, fatigued players and officials from Nigeria who were spending almost a full day at Al Abraq Airport from Sunday, October 13 to Monday, October 14. 2024, without clearance to proceed to the match venue in Benghazi had no choice but to return to base after the pilots eventually refuelled the aircraft late Monday to the relief of Nigerians who feared for the lives of our star-studded team.

However, after Nigeria pulled out of the match citing the inhuman treatment meted out to her team, the continental football governing body CAF today delisted the Libya versus Nigeria match in Benghazi. CAF through a terse statement published on CAF Media page on Monday said “TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Qualifier fixture between Libya and Nigeria will not take place as scheduled tonight.

“The matter will be referred to the competent CAF bodies”.

With the outcome of the ill-fated match now to be determined in the boardroom of CAF,  the organisation now has to bare its fangs on the erring side found to have sabotaged the return leg match in Benghazi on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 night.

CAF should make example of the guilty side in the dispute between Libya and Nigeria, bearing in mind that if this ugly episode in Libya which nearly claimed the lives of the entire generation of Nigerian footballers, administrators, journalists and crew members of ValueJet Airlines that flew the Nigerian delegation to Libya is swept under the carpet, Libya and other countries in Africa will repeat this abominable act that should not be tolerated in sports especially in the beautiful game of football.

Foul play or under hand tactics are very rife in African football and without fear of being accused of sounding Xenophobia, North African countries especially Libya are very notorious in mistreating visiting teams both national teams and clubside.

There are many instances Nigerian teams have suffered untold hardship in the hands of their North African hosts especially during return leg matches in North Africa as the visiting teams will be subjected to many harrowing experiences raging from denial of decent hotels, food and training pitches to prepare for their match.

In fact, the account of the North African pilot who flew the chattered aircraft that conveyed the Nigerian delegation to Libya on the risk the aircraft and the passengers faced on the fateful day after he was illegally forced to divert the jet to disused Al Abraq Airport should be a enough evidence for CAF to bring the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) and Libyan government to account for their crime against humanity.

The pilot, a Tunisian has brandished documents that showed that the host country’s government approved Super Eagles trip from Kano, Nigeria to Benghazi, Libya, saying that, “All the evidence is here. These are the documents. In aviation we cannot hide anything. We can not say what is wrong because there is a lot of crosschecking. They can’t hide this information or say anything other the truth.”

Continuing, he said: “The truth was we were going to Benghazi. I can show the evidence of the approval. I have it. After that they changed their mind, at the last minute they changed airports. The airport is a domestic airport. It is not well equipped. I worked there for two years and I know the area very well. it was not a easy matter at all.”

The pilot had earlier explained how he warned the Libyan authorities at least eight times against diverting his flight but the Libyan authorities refused to listen to him.

He said he reached out to them at least eight times explaining to them that he had fuel shortage which might not be enough to cover the diverted distance and that it was a breach of safety but he was turned down with an excuse that the order was from the highest Libyan authority.

The pilot said, “The flight plane was to land at the destination which was Benghazi Benina and we got approval from the Libyan aviation authorities to land but unfortunately when we signed to land they asked us to divert to Al-Abraq International Airport which is at almost 150 miles, that is 300 kilometres, more far, but it is at the east.

“It was not even our alternate. It is not good because in aviation we have our flight men, we calculate the fuel to our destination to avoid this kind of thing because it makes a breach to safety.

“I and my flight men explained to the Benghazi authority but they said no, that it was an order from the highest authorities and that Al-Abraq is better.”

With the overwhelming documentary evidences provided by the pilot and Nigerian officials, CAF should not allow this type of dark arts by the Libyan authorities and the football federation to go unpunished especially as the ordeal of the Nigerian delegation have been reported and broadcast by international media organisations including the Cable News Network (CNN).

Hopefully, CAF will resolve this issue the way it did in the controversy that erupted when Algerian customs officers seized the jerseys of RS Berkane, a Moroccan football club, citing the inclusion of a map depicting the disputed Western Sahara region.

This seizure resulted in the cancellation of the first leg of RS Berkane

 tie against USM Alger in the African Confederation Cup in April this year. The second leg in Morocco was also cancelled after USM Alger team refused to file out on the match day, although they were in Morocco for the game.

CAF awarded Berkane a 3-0 victory in the botched  first leg of their semifinal tie in Algeria and also canceled the match even  when the Moroccan club refused to take to the field after Algerian officials confiscated their shirts. Return leg was also cancelled and awarded to Berkane too.

The Berkane and USM Alger teams’ imbroglio, as bad as it looks, does not come close to the near fatal ordeal Libyan aviation authorities and Libya football federation subjected the Nigeria delegation to in Libya territory.

Any decision order than imposing a long term ban on Libyan national teams male and female will not serve as a deterrent to African countries that engage in dark arts in order to achieve home victory.

This is the way to go CAF.