Topic: Is the CAF really taking responsibility? (Read 950 times)

This is becoming more serious and personal than I thought. While is the Libyan so much pained with the punishment that has been served to them. They deserve every bit of what the Confederation of African football has said concerning them which must not go unpunished. If they actually was claiming what they did wasn’t intentional. I think with the way things are going and how they’re acting towards it, says it all that it was indeed an intentional act. We might see this turn to war. Football was meant to united people no matter their belief, color, etc. I just pray this Libyan madness doesn’t change that aspect of football.
If CAF find out they are really taking this too far then they should ban them from football entirely

This is an issue I've come across but yet to get the full details of what actually transpired between the Nigerian super eagles and the players of Libya.
I am just coming across this thread for the first time today and I did be happy to find more details of this incident here, so, I will be following from now one, and possibly go back to comments from other users to try to find out the real issue, since I believe that commenting on the issue, or even profering solution to sometime I am not very certain about, can lead me to being biased in my judgment, and this is something I don't want to be..

Anyways, thanks for bringing up this issue here, it's an interesting one worth discussing about.

CAF sanction on Libya because of the ill and very deadly treatment to they gave to the Super Eagles when the Nigeria national team visited the country for an AFCON qualifying game last month was adequate and fair enough. The Libyan football federation went to low on their reported revenge for what they also termed poor treatment from the NFF when they first came to Nigeria because they risked the life of the Super Eagles players.
For the report that the Libyan government is arresting Nigerians, I don't think it's related to what recently happened in the qualifying games rather the arrests were made against Nigerians that were illegally trying to enter European countries through the Mediterranean sea.

if not that in Africa, we're used to assuming that most decisions are being politicised, there's nothing wrong with the decision of CAF against Libya in trying to ensure that such an act is never allowed to repeat itself again. Have we ever witnessed this kind of occurrence in the European football where the national team of a country is being disrespected in the manner the super eagles went through? The only issue with this judgement is that the super eagles would have faced similar sanction if it's ever found that the Libya plane that landed in port Harcourt instead of akwa ibom was a deliberately carried out. Even if the super eagles maltreated then as they claimed, there are better ways they would have used in responding to that kind of aligation other Trying to pay back in a manner that has the potential of costing the lives of the players.
is like the sanction from CAF isn't enough for them. Let them continue this way untill it becomes something that involves FIFA or even the united nations and they get more sanctions that will make there country that's already void of leaders go into a worse form. What they tend to forget is that Nigeria has one of the largest media presence globally, if the attack on Nigerians continues, it wouldn't take a week of bombardment of all media outlet by Nigerians which will result in them facing a sanction of a bigger body than CAF.

Without being biased as a Nigerian, I think that CAF has done well in delivering their judgement against Libya, for the poor and humiliating attitude and reception that they showed to the Nigerian super eagles. The judgement should serve as a deterant to any country that plans to disrespect the teams of other countries in African football. Visitors deserve to be treated with utmost respect, not like aliens who have no business being in their country.

If the stories that I'm reading on social media is true that Nigerians are being arrested in Libya, because of the CAF judgement, then it speaks a lot about how Libyans treats foreigners in their country. I hope that the Nigerian government will take proactive steps to caution the Libyan government about the ill treatment of it's citizens. Football should unit us rather than creating conflicts and crisis.

They already took the whole thing personal when they decided to treat the super eagles unfair while been stuck in the libya airport for hours. My problem now is their non chalant attitude of going against the terms and punishment served to them by the CAF committee.. what has Nigerians doing in Nigeria got to do with their football conflicts.. seriously to me I dislikes theses Islamic countries with their different and wring psychology in simple matter. They take things too far. They have no choice but to pay the fine and accept the defeat as well.. I just hope they don't end up hurting more Nigerans living there

As I know, CAF has never really gone beyond just fining clubs and teams when issues happens, and that’s part of the problem In My Opinion. It’s disappointing because football has the power to unite people not the opposite, but when CAF doesn’t step up with real and impactful actions which something that risks creating more tension than unity.
What is happening with Nigeria and Libya is a new example of how neglecting the side of players and countries which can lead to bigger problems. If CAF doesn’t take full responsibility then implement proper measures, it could escalate into something worse for long periods between two countries.

Not hopefully but definitely. Even with one match not played, we are 1 point ahead of Benin Republic and 2 points ahead of Rwanda. I just think that we are the best in group D. I do not think Benin Republic will be able to win us in their country and also Rwanda will not likely win us in our country. With 3 points added, it is definitely and not hopefully.

What do you expect from a war zone, a country that was practically brought down by same Libyans against themselves, so for them to treat Nigerians in an inhuman manners is not a big deal for them, the CAF judgement that awards a 3:0 winning to Nigeria team and also asked them to pay such an amount in fine were linean on the Libyan government, but no, they choose to arrest Nigerian extort them and get the money from them indirectly to pay the fine, I know their will play politics with this whole issue, but at the end we are going to see a more possible sanction if they failed to pay the fine within the stipulated amount of time.


We are hopefully going to the qualifying stage and possibly represent Africa, and hopefully countries like Libyan are made to face the right judgment and suspension, since they have practically violated the rules of the games, and possibly also won't be ready to comply with the CAF decision.

I know about this not quite long ago when I saw it on Punch about how Libya has started arresting Nigerians in their country. I think Libya is taken this far and too serious. If Confederation of African Football did not declare Nigeria as the winner, Libya does not have any chance to get qualified. They have just 1 point and they are the worst on the group D.

At least they came to Nigeria, although they were disappointed but they played, unlike how they waste our player's time in their country without playing. What I have thought about it before was that Libya is not serious because they know they are losers. If they are the first or the second on the table, they will not joke with the remaining qualification matches at all but play the match.

Libya think that the decision was greatly influenced by Nigeria Football Federation, but they do not look at their own mistakes. They have now started to arrest Nigerians in their country. Indicating that Nigerians will be the ones that will pay the fine.




I do not think it should get to this point. Libya took this too personal, and which is not called for or good.

This is indeed a fair judgment from the CAF board. I mean it was so obvious that the Libyan were so intentional towards act against the Nigerian team. Serves them right and with this I strongly believe other countries will learn and take caution.
No one should spoil the fun that football brings and also the love and unity.
The CAF not just passing judgement but should also take responsibilities to ensure they have a better review of any country hosting another to ensure everything is in order to avoid such incidents from happening again.
Also Nigeria should know that if they in any way fall victim of such act especially now that other countries will be envious of them and the Libyan will also look out for any given opportunity to point out any mistakes the Nigeria team will make. It’s going to be Nigeria vs the most of the African countries. So therefore Nigeria should be carful and avoid any kind of violence when hosting another country

I wonder why no one is talking about the recently delivered CAF's verdict on the Nigeria/Libya episode despite having a good argument shortly after Libya's ignoble act against the Nigerian team.

I was happy yesterday when I read from various news outlets that Libya was heavily sanctioned by the CAF. The football body automatically awarded 3 goals and 3 points to the Nigerian team for the match they did not play (Libya 0 - Nigeria 3). Not only that, Libya was also fined $50,000 for this ugly act. This is what I call justice!

https://x.com/NigeriaStories/status/1850161919262437582

They know their capabilities so to speak. So even without the penalties, they won't qualify. But hopefully, the next time around, Libya should show sportsmanship in every match they take. They will be branded negatively if they will have the same similar incident in the future. They need to remember that at the end of the day, this is sports and they should not take this personally whenever they are inside the field.

I fully support your opinion which I think should be the best punishment so others who thought of harboring such behavior will have a rethink

Yes Nigeria is going to qualify either way. If the match had been held as planned, Nigeria would have won Libya comfortably, there is no doubt about it. There are speculations of what might be CAF punishment for Libya, a point deduction will send them out of the qualifiers. I think CAF should come up with a more strict punishment because point deduction or not, Libya are not qualifying for the AFCON so removing their points will not have any consequences on them and they will not learn from it. A huge fine and a year ban should be an appropriate punishment in my opinion.

Even without this ugly incident occurring, Libya wouldn't have won against the Super Eagles at their home; even though they did, they wouldn't at the end of AFCON qualified to be among the two teams that would have qualified out of the Group D table. It would still be the Super Eagles, either Benin or Rwanda. For the Libya team, they will remain in the 4th spot with 3 points, not qualifying in the AFCON tournament next year that will be hosted in Morocco. Withstanding this, CAF has to take the necessary measures to address this, for this terrible act not to repeat because this incident didn't portray the spirit of sportsmanship in football

Even aside this, Libya chance to qualify is very low. It is the worst team on group D. Probably the reason they are doing as they like. Rwanda and Benin Republic are better. If only two countries will qualify, Libya can not be among. But if the match is even cancelled, Nigeria chance to qualify is very high (the highest among the 4 clubs). We are still leading with 1 point despite that we have only 3 matches played while Rwanda and Benin Republic have played four matches. Yet, we are still going to play good while meeting the two countries in the last two matches left.

The latest development is that CAF has demanded that the Nigerian Football Federation and Libya Football Federation (LFF) should give a detailed explanation of what transpired in the cancelled return leg match. They are required to submit relevant documents to back up their claims. It is clear that Libyans intentionally humiliated the Super Eagles because they felt they were treated badly by NFF. They will be found guilty since they decided to take action instead of reporting to CAF. Three points and three goals is a fair punishment. With this sanction, they have no hope of qualifying, while the Super Eagles will get automatic qualification.

There had been various news in the air of the CAF penalizing the both countries by delisting the Nigerian and the Libyan football teams from participating in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers, another sighting the CAF is deciding on giving Libyan football teams 2-3 points as Nigerian teams already decided not to participate in the match due to their experience when they landed at Libya against the match. Also The Nigerian team said they can not afford to their best in returning glory of winning home for their country after the mayhem mistreated has occurred to them that the Libyans may launch brutal mayhems of them if they defeats the Libyan teams in their home. So they thought fearfully

Other news flies that the CAF has suspended Libyan football teams until 2027 from partaking on the AFCON.

While these rumours has been flying around, some others follows where some other Islamic neighboring countries of Libyans are calling to back Libya up in this case of AFCON so that they don't get penalized.
If this is true, I don't think if it would be a healthy situation for the African countries by which football as a game being a measure of connecting and unifying them would be the same to separate them.

There is no need turning this is o religious disputes neither a good impact if this countries in good relationship would let football bring them apart.
Let the CAF act accordingly that even if any of the parties would be sanctioned, let them not hesitate to moderate the welfare as well.

CAF has always been watching over the matches for a long time. The recently clash between Nigeria shouldn't be a reason to conclude about them being irresponsible. We have seen some other clashes In the past and it had been resolved accordingly. The fact that Nigeria actually made a mistake when libya players came to Nigeria wasn't enough reason for them to actually take actions into their hands. I was really disappointed by how they reacted even though they made it seem like it wasn't their fault which we all know it was just a payback thing. My own concern about this issue is that the CAF should take necessary actions, so we don see more of this in the African football community....

I do not know if it is a rumour yet but I am reading it from some sources that Nigeria will likely be awarded 3 points and 3 goals as a punishment for what Libya did. It is clear how it is the fault of Libya. Also Libya will not be allowed to play at home for 3 consecutive matches and that they will be fined. I do not know how true this is for now but I think it would be a good punishment.

This act is so unprofessional, I think it shouldn't be a matter that the CAF will take so lightly,  let their be actions because if nothing is done about it I believe something similar to this can still happen in the future. If truely this was a planned action, it happens because they know there won't be any consequences to it. Football is a professional game and every behaviour must be in a professional manner, rules which people needs to follow up. I don't know the reason for such behaviour but I think it needs to be corrected to make the Africa football to be more professional.

If truly what you’re saying is actually the way it is. I won’t argue with that in anyways. But then this has nothing to do with other countries peace of mind and the fun football brings. This is their problem if if CAF is trying not to be hard on them in the mindset of uniting them. They shouldn’t be overlooked when going against rules like what they’ve done. We all know how politics has effects some many countries both positively and negatively. But it’s left for them and their colonial governments to Peale things right and not spreading their legs outside using that as a means to create conflict

I understand you, but on the contrary, I guess you wanted to say thousands of Nigerians endure in Libya? That's more reason they believe they can treat the country like trash.

That's by the way, I never meant that kind of conflict that would result in confrontations, it's a sport. There are legal ways of doing this which I stated part of it above in a peaceful protest. Libya has committed an offence against Nigeria in the name of football, the world's football governing bodies should see to it in their hierarchy and hugely sanction the erring party. Not only that, Nigeria should never play in Libya for a while, a neutral field is okay for such a country you can't even trust. Their action is evil.

What I have read officially is that CAF has formed a disciplinary committee headed by Ousmane Kane of Senegal to investigate the circumstances surrounding Nigeria’s withdrawal from the match that was scheduled for that match in Libya.

I do not know who the people on this committee are, but it seems to me that they are “notable” people who have the influence to make decisions.

What surprised me was the NFF’s retaliation in refuting all these allegations, attributing the logistical dilemmas to the LFF and claiming that they failed to communicate essential information about their arrival and made last-minute changes to the landing site from Uyo to Port Harcourt, as if this had been the LFF’s choice.

Anyway, in the end, I believe that nothing will happen and the ones who will really pay for this are the fans who were unable to watch the game.

I think we already have a thread dedicated for AFCON discussion that would have been best for this discussion since it is an ongoing one that have already been touched by many people. But for better visibility, creating a thread is also fine. The issue that happened between Nigeria and Libya is actually an unfortunate one that should never have been seen in this modern times. I think such things was possible because of the political instability of Libya, a country that is yet to stabilize so then really do not care about many things at this point so even if CAF uses the hammer on them, they are not much bordered as they have more important things to think about now than football. CAF understood this that is why they are being cautious not to be too hard on them, hoping that football could help them unite and overcome their challenges.

I have gotten no further context of all this situation but I would not be surprised there was some actual malice when the Nigerian team flown to Libya and they were not taken care of as they should have, there is much corruption when comes to politics in Africa, in general. The problem is actually bigger if someone within Nigerian government decided to retaliate by mistreating the Libyan team as soon as they got the chance to do so.
Honestly, these kind of drama only makes it difficult for the regular people to enjoy the sport and further engage in sport betting, you know?
If powerful people is willing to interfere with the stay conditions of a visiting team, then how can we sure they would not be also willing to fix matches as well?

Yeah it very bad of Libya to act in such manner, but also why do Nigeria have to let them drop at calabar instead of Uyo and we are all aware that Uyo also gave an international airport. The Libya complained about the bus and the road from calabar to Uyo, but the bus I saw on social media was a good bus compared to the 16 sitter bus the Libya government provided for the Nigerians. Things  like this is why they don't really take Africans seriously because how can 2 nations act like this to each other.

I think CAF needs to take serious action with both countries or at least the country found guilty should be penelized. South Americans will never act like this towards each other or even the Europeans. When you want to be taken seriously in anything you do then you have to act accordingly, alot of things need to change in the African football system and penalizing the faulted country will be a good start.

Worse comes to worst. Nigerians will be asked to returned home. seems this is some kind of hate towards Nigeria.
Probably they’re jealous and Libyan team has never been a threat in any of the Africa competitions.

We do not want a mere football match that should have promoted friendship to result in conflict. Nigerians will suffer more if this issue escalates. How many Libyans live in Nigeria? It might be an insignificant number but thousands of Nigerians live in Libya because it is a major route to illegally migrate to Europe. They might become more hostile to Nigerians in Libya if this problem is not handled well. 

The game should be rescheduled to another country, maybe North Africa. The Libyan Football Federation should pay a fine and also bear the expenses Nigeria will incur because of the rescheduled match.

However, Nigeria still tops that table with seven points after Rwanda defeated the Benin Republic. A win will make Nigeria join countries like Senegal, DR Congo, Algeria, Egypt, Angola, Cameroon, and Uganda, and host Morocco, which has already qualified for the Nations Cup.   

So it’s then it’s clear that this isn’t just about the football aspect. There’s something fishy going on which must be brought to light. The Libyan government wanted to use the football as a means of executing whatever intentions they had. From what you just said now. Imagine an airplane running out of fuel which still in the sky. That could result to crashing leading to the lost of passengers life onboard. If there’s anything they felt is going on between them and Nigeria. Then they shouldn’t drag it in to the world of football. Thank God the players after all this landed safely and also returned back to the country safely. This could have been something else.

Who cares if it turns into a conflict?

It is an affront by Libya against Nigeria, Nigeria should reciprocate, enough of this nonsense. First, CAF would sanction Libya and I believe FIFA would do something. This is more possible since the pilot confirmed that it was Libyan authorities who deliberately diverted the plane and treated Nigerian players like that. However, before the response of CAF and FIFA, Nigeria should never fly to Libya to play that match again, another country should be chosen for the match in a show of protest.

We didn’t see it coming. This is a matter of life and death. I watched the video where the pilot flying the plane explained what happened on the flight and the instruction or should I say command he received from Libyan government. He was told by the “highest authority in Lybia” to divert the aircraft. Knowing that there was limited quantity of fuel for the trip, the Libya government completely ignored the risks that accompanied their decision. Honestly, we do not need this dark arts in football. It gives African football a bad reputation. Sadly, the damage has been done and CAF should act accordingly. Last I read, Nigeria may be taking the case to Court of Arbitration for Sport

Why do i feel like this guys had it all planned after their arrival in Nigeria, not only do they know it is hard or just impossible defeating Nigeria at home, so they set up possible means to divert the result to a draw, then following with their motive towards the Nigeria team going through sort of stress and being mentally drained ahead of their game in Libya, giving them the worst of performance during the game. I am happy as the Super Eagles came back to Nigeria without honouring the fixture, clearly as it was they might have lost the game if at all they stayed to play.

Africans are now getting divided, what a pity for a continent that has went through stages of difficulties and has independently emerge out of it, not finding measures to stick together. Nigeria (Super Eagles) has hosted many countries and no complains recorded, how much more of Libya that is not counted as a threat in all Afrian competitions.

Not everything can be controlled by CAF, considering that the policies of imposing sanctions on teams are not always effective. The nature of African peoples is that they always agree to disagree, and that is why we see their levels very low in terms of performance when it comes to team sports, especially football, despite the fact that its players have great performance and find their opportunities with clubs outside the continent. This is a difficult equation and CAF is supposed to be aware of this.

It is not the job of CAF to develop the mentality of African societies, and therefore it cannot be blamed in many cases. What happened with the Libyan national team recently is not an exception because this is repeated many times in different forms that may be more or less severe, especially between teams whose countries are in a state of direct conflict. These countries have not yet reached the stage of awareness to realize that sports activities must be neutralized from any political or ideological differences or whatever the reason.

I wouldn't call the Libyan style of play in the first leg unprofessional because that was their strategy. They knew they were playing with one of the best teams in Africa, so they came to secure at least one point. And was clear that they would have achieved it if not for the last-minute goal by Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.

I have spoken in the past with some Nigerians who had lived in Libya. They told me how inhuman these folks treat Africans who are not in the Northern zone. They were willing to force the Super Eagles to use a bus and travel in an area that was experiencing armed conflict. The former caption of the Libyan team Moatasem Al-Musrati justified the ill-treatment and even criticised the media for bias. He said Nigerian players used their popularity in Europe to escalate the issue.  

You are just right about this. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) issue a statement about what actually happened as they have said they will look into the matter. All what you posted was what they founded out. You can see it here: https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/745527-caf-releases-new-statement-on-libya-vs-nigeria-afcon-qualifier-debacle.html. I read the news many hours ago but I was busy to post about it early today in the morning because the statement was released yesterday.

Wow!! Just wow, good things evidence are being put out and the CAF have no excuse to implement disciplinary action to they the Libyan team if found guilty of all that’s has been said or even put out in the internet and some evidence they’ll find after their investigation.

I watched the first leg between Nigeria vs Lybia. The Libyan team were very unprofessional in their approach to the game, they didn’t want to play and were pulling all sorts of antics just to waste time. I didn’t think their antics would transcend the football pitch and even go as far as putting the lives of the Nigerian squad at risk. This was done to play mind games on the players and make them very uncomfortable before the match. Thanks to the internet, things like this can be recorded live for the world to see. The Super Eagles shared their experience with the world, how come we didn’t hear about the so called maltreatment of the Libya when they came to Nigeria?

I wouldn't take sides for any of the country but allegedly, I think that the Libyan government purposely orchestrated this incident as a revenge to Nigerian football team based on what their own football team also faced when they came to Nigeria last week to play for the 2025 AFCON qualifier which was supposed to be held at Uyo state in Nigeria, unfortunately the plane was diverted to Port Harcourt which made the Libyan football team a bit stranded but yet the NFF made sure they find a solution to get a vehicle that took the team from port Harcourt to Uyo state where the match was supposed to be held.

Based on what lead to the arrival in a port Harcourt instead of Uyo, the NFF said that they were latly informed of the arrival date of the Libyan football team and they apologized for the inconvenience it might have caused the players. Despite the inconvenience, the Libyan players were still treated well in great hospitality.

So, this week, the Nigerian football team went to Libya to play, the Libya government decided to take their revenge too by diverting the plane to a different locations very far from where the football was supposed to hold, as if that was not enough, the Nigerian players stayed in that uncomfortable location  for 13 hours without water to drink, no food to eat, they didn't take their bath and there was no network to even make call or browse.

Later after the 13 hours that the player stayed in that hostile location, the Libyan government decided to send a bus to carry the players to a location (about 200 KM) where the match is supposed to hold. The players were already exhausted and devastated of the whole situation and the bus that was sent to them also contribute in discouraging them.

It's such a pathetic situation from the Libyan side, if what we have seen on the new so far proposing they are trying to do a pay back then it's a really sad situation how low they will descend to be this petty, going by the international practice in football, if they felt ill treated when they came to Nigeria, was it not proper they reported they issues to CAF and wait for proper response on the issue than waiting for an opportunity to get a pay back which they had to take so extreme, 12hrs is literally enough to consider such as keeping the players hostage literally.

Or maybe you mean that we are waiting for a Libyans to cook up a lie to attempt to justify their actions, the reasons for that is very clear and everyone who critically view the situation would definitely know their actions were deliberate as well as the motive behind it. According to what I read on the news, the airport Nigerians landed was an abandoned Airport and they were still the ones who granted Nigerians the permission to land there, stranded without food or drink for several hours. And I even heard that they intend to take legal actions against the NFF because they forfeited the match even when it was truly their fault.

When a team faces inhuman treatment in any way, they should complain to CAF immediately. I don't think the Libyan Football Federation did that; rather, they decided to take laws into their hands. Their decision to retaliate against the perceived maltreatment without complaint will make them guilty.

Libya is a country that is facing instability. Two governments control the country. The UN-backed government in the West and the Eastern government headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The Super Eagles were denied access to Benghazi Airport located in the East. It was likely the military administrators who gave the order. But the comments of the Libyan caption showed that it was a preplanned action.

It is quite strange that CAF does not even place a fine on Libya (or on Nigeria when they did this to the Libya national team last time) in order to deter this sort of thing from happening. Many FAs in African countries have some form of corruption in them, so a financial penalty will do enough to kick some executives in the rear as a wake-up call to prevent this kind of behavior from happening.

It should not be just a 3-0 forfeit.

They should definitely take action otherwise this will happen again in many places because when something like this goes not punished by the law from the governance body it leave spaces for other entities to commit the same. I think this type of precedent should be heavily investigated from the governing body as I said and be punished to the maximum so it does not leave any space for others to try and emulate it. This is a dangerous precedent which has upset quite a lot of persons and gone totally against what football should do, unite all people in a game.

At the moment I think CAF performance in regulating football is questionable, because after all a lot of bad things happen to teams that compete with each other between African teams, what happened in the Libya vs Nigeria match should obviously be a reference for CAF to improve their standards in organizing and coordinating every team that will compete, because I think the incident that happened to the Nigeria squad is definitely something that should have been prevented if CAF could have solved the problems of the two teams that occurred in the previous first leg match, Libya action over Nigeria in my opinion is a form of revenge that they did because previously Nigeria had also tried to abandon Libya and experienced the same thing as Nigeria before when Libya visited Nigeria,  but indeed if we look at the current political involvement in the CAF decision is very large, and this can indeed be a big problem that interferes with the integrity and beauty of the game, disrupting unity among players, fans and even countries.

You made a point here though we are waiting to hear from news to know exactly what happened at Libya that made the supper eagles of Nigeria to be stranded and the reason why the match didn't hold, what you just explain could be a good reason it could be that Libya what to make a pay back time to what Nigeria did to them when they were expected to land at Uyo  and later landed at Port Harcourt, CAF is much aware to what happened.
Africans really need to change there mindset when it come to sports this what unit nations together not the other way round, I believe what just happened to Nigeria at Libya is the reason why most African players is refusing to play for there home country and choose to play for another country in Europe I did not blame them for there is corruption among CAF.

This ain't about Jumping into conclusions, let's call a spade a spade, this whole controversy is in no way an accident or an unintended act by the Libyans, on the contrary, it's an intentional act, this was personal and a direct retaliation for what Conspired between the both parties during the Libyan Football Federation last visit to Nigeria, which we already know was a fault from their own end. The competition was meant to take place in Uyo Nigeria, and the Nigerian Football Federation were expecting to receive them in Uyo, only for them to receive a call 2 hours before arrival that they'll be landing in Port Harcourt and not Uyo, I mean who does that?

I think the CAF already knows this fact and that's why they should really address the situation because it was just too much.

It’s never difficult for the CAF to make decisions my friend. What might be feared is seeing them being in politics in to their decision which is not acceptable. As this can ruin the beauty of football and the unity of the people involved.

It is difficult to hold CAF alone responsible for the poor standard of football in Africa. While CAF plays an important role in developing the game, many other factors contribute to this problem. These include political instability in some countries, lack of infrastructure, lack of investment in youth academies, and weak administrative organization in some clubs. Although CAF offers some programs to develop the game, it needs to do more to improve the level of its tournaments, support African clubs and players, and increase financial and logistical support to develop the game on the continent.

That's true, because involving politics in such critical situation such as this might only prompt other nations to do something worse than this, of which we expect nothing more than a fair judgement and justice to whatever was done to the Super Eagles of Nigeria while at Libya. Because though it's truth that the route from Port Harcourt to Always is stressful due to the bad road, it's rumoured that the Libyans teams were the people who chose Port Harcourt for landing due to the fact they never wanted to pay excess cost, even when the Nigerian Football Federation suggested it. Hence, I strongly urges Confederation Of African Football "CAF" to be unbiased in this, to avoid international dislike.

I like how you said it because it is the whole truth. Most of the users who are engaging this thread are Africans and we know that CAF ain't doing nothing. Anyone who knows Libya since after the fall of Gaddafi would know that the country has become a shadow of its former self. Had Gaddafi been alive these nonsense would never have happened. He was a man who wanted to see a United Africa and not an African where visiting footballers are treated like piece shit and then the government tries to hide it. Please no one should get me wrong, I am not trying to stir up a political conversation, I am just saying that this evil the Libyan's did will go unpunished because they in the past they did it to the Cameroonian team, they also did it to a local Nigerian club team.

Better, if the CAF are not taking a drastic decision on this, things may escalate beyond this and get worse more, before we know it, we are going to be having records on its kind and matches will be postpone for useless reasons they would have tighten more their security and discipline tier players by issuing a ban on them, the earlier the better that they bring an end to sub flimsy excuses that may cause racism in sports starting from here henceforth.

These wars are just pathetic, every single team trying to get revenge on the other or trying to get them demoralized and tired before the game, this whole airport lockdown must stop and punish every single one of them with a decade ban on every single competition so they will know better than acting like stupid kids
How many of those have been already? Libya and South Africa teams are stranded in Nigeria, now the Nigerian team is blocked in Libya, and Morroco will not Algeria because of a flag on their shirts, and some still dream of a shared World Cup bid.

Thank you for sharing this information. While we all wait for the CAF to finally decide on what to do after their investigation. They should be fair and not involve politic when it comes to football.

From minor issues to bigger problems I don't see why this should be brought to this level, if there's any disagreement with the both countries it should be sorted out and not using that to disrupt any processes involved within the both countries. And felt so bad seeing that the Libya treated the super eagles in that manner which is not right. I think there should be an immediate effect to resolve this issues before it gets out of hand, cause if they should do this to Nigerians how about them coming for returning match and the super eagles do same.

That's true. Instead of calling out CAF, why not bring out the countries responsible for this and instead mete out punishment because from the way it's going nothing is clear yet, we don't really know who's really at fault most other than the fact that the Libyan government chose to maltreat the Super Eagles and still tried to play the victim, threatening legal action if Nigeria tried to back out of playing the return leg.
 I'm sure things like this usually happens between some of these African countries so I feel the best thing to do is fine them and let everyone move on. Although it kinda irks me that these things are allowed to happen in the first place. It's so petty and childish if you look at it.

As a Nigerian that recides in Rivers State and have visited akwa ibom state countless times, I can relate well with whatever deficulty the Lybia team alleged to have faced  due to thier landing in port Harcourt, rivers state and then taking a bus to Uyo in akwa ibom state where the game was fixed. We all know that the condition of the road isn't good and that it might have given them discomfort in a bit. Also, anyone that has used that rout before will attest to the fact that there are a lot of security check point on the road and those guys are clearly doing there jobs and don't care if you're on your national duty or not. Stop and search is a normal thing in Nigeria and maybe with regards to that, it's understandable to accept some part of the statement that's coming from the angle of the Lybia captain. The angle he's wrong is that he's trying to paint the narrative as though it's an intentional act. When they got to Uyo, days to the game, logistics where made totally available and they where lodged in a one of the best hotel in Uyo while provision was made for thier security to and from thier training ground. Apart from the initial deficulty they faced, nothing went wrong again till thier exit.

On the part of the deficulty the super eagles faced, it's totally on a different level and one can see clearly that they are just being emotional and reacting to whatever they feel was done to them in Nigeria. Diverting them to another airport is not something that's strange but leaving them in an airport for the numbers of hours without a valid explanation without food and water is totally on another level. Take politics aside, these are international players you're talking about and you're confining them in an airport and had to let them sleep on the floor for a whole night? What's the Nigerian ambassador to Libya doing? What's the Libya sports body doing at that time to ensure that if for a reason the Nigerian team is trying to tannish thier image that such a plan doesn't work? I don't even expect much from the decision of the CAF because at this point, it's going to be politics and only politics. Don't expect any reasonable decisions from them.

Football has a special power of bringing people together across national and cultural divides. And we've seen that at AFCON many times before. But if the concerns of countries such as Nigeria and Libya are not adequately addressed by CAF, it risks turning what should be a celebration of sport into a problem.

CAF must strengthen the player welfare system. Ensure adequate infrastructure and address the unique concerns faced by each country. Perhaps a serious dialogue with the national soccer team and tight-knit community would help resolve the conflict. and help prevent problems from escalating. One solution might be for CAF to have a task force that visits each participating country to assess opportunities and support development. and ensure fairness to all players involved. This way, we can keep the spirit of AFCON alive and avoid potential conflicts between countries.




Indeed, you have commented regarding how easy it is for disagreements to blossom into misperceptions. That's especially true in high-profile events like international sports. While there are African countries who will face challenges with structures and welcome, it should still be an equal playing field from both parties. If the host country and guest nation can work together to overcome some of their innumerable issues, the perception of those issues may just waiver away.

I think CAF must take a very pro-active approach in building relations between host countries and visiting teams, such as proper planning for the airport, transport arrangement in clear detail and some sort of cultural training on all players and coaching staff. Lastly, the success of AFCON rests on getting all men on to leave no stone unturned towards making the experience as smooth as possible. Respecting all the people involved.



It is very disappointing to hear of the treatment the Nigeria national team has received. No team should have to face such conditions. Especially in the World Cup where the aim is to promote unity and good sportsmanship. It feels like a failure for African football. It has come this far in terms of professionalism and international respect.

CAF certainly has a responsibility to ensure that such incidents are prevented in the future. They must prioritize the welfare and fairness of all teams, no matter where football is played. This situation highlights the need for stricter regulations. and closely monitoring the host country To ensure that the host country is provided with the necessary facilities and accommodations, if CAF can put in place a clear mechanism for hosting the host country. It will make a huge difference to the reputation and fairness of competitions like AFCON.

We can not question CAF for not taking a prompt decision on the matter yet, they need to carry out a thorough investigation before taking any decision on the matter. This is a matter that has gone beyond the two teams, it now concerns the integrity of the two countries on how they treat their visitors. I hope that CAF's decision will be fair and they will sanction either of the counties that is found to be at fault.

Although looking at the scenerio from my own point of view I believe that the Libyan authority treated the super eagles of Nigeria, very poorly. It's alleged that the treatment is a revenge for how their players were treated when they came to play in Nigeria. But they're giving airport protocols as excuse for the poor treatment. I however support the decision of the super eagles to boycott the match because the unnecessary delay and poor reception would've affected them mentally during the match.

What happened to the Nigerian national team is very sad and regrettable, because we African, I believe that we knows better and we can equally do better, according to what I heard the Libyans government was trying to sabotage the Nigerian national team so that they wouldn't be in a good position to get the desired result, they just want to weaken or disorganize the Nigerian team by the bad reception of not providing foot or water and hotel where they will stay, instead they were locked up in an abandoned airport, it's a good thing that the game was cancelled by the Nigerian team, because number one, it's not a do or die affair, secondly when they came to Nigerian they were treated much more better, so I see no reason to continue that game with such a treatment by the Libyans.

Then as for caf, on a sincere note, I think they failed on their duty because this wouldn't be possible if they were on top of the whole situation, though as it stands, we don't know what they intend doing, but this should never repeat itself again, because I believe that African football has past this stage.

I believe within few days all details will be spread online and people would know, usually most of these Africans countries are not hospitable and could be the cause of serious disagreement between the two countries and as I know Nigerian especially their players are easily triggered with slight misunderstanding, which could stir him to leave the airport.

They the Libyan team we said to retaliate to what they said was unfair treatment for them when they arrived in Nigeria. Knowing the didn’t follow instructions which result to what they went thought in Nigeria.
I think the CAF should be held accountable for all of this. They won’t say there aren’t aware of what happened to the Libyans in Nigeria. They should have addressed the issue and make sure everything was handled appropriately.
But they chose to act ignorant about it, now it has now gone globally and what could have been avoided. Anyways if one has to think about it. It’s a good thing it now went global so people can know if the CAF are really taking responsibility to every issues appropriately.

Let’s wait and see what their response will be

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They the authorities should have taken action on what happened to the Libyan in Nigeria and make sure such doesn’t occur again. Their ignorance has lead to same thing repeated itself again.
Now they’ll be forced to act so this doesn’t happen again to other countries participating in the AFCON

Apparently their plane landed on the wrong location and they were stranded in the airport for 14 hours. In which what made them decide to just come back home and not participate in the game. Libya is said to take all legal actions against the boycott of the Nigerian team by not playing in said match.

Both sides have something to say and I think both sides have some good points. We would have to see what the broader authorities make of the situation.

To think this is a retaliation from the Libyan football club to how they felt were treated unfairly upon their arrival in Nigeria. Then they should be punished for it. From the few sources I read from. They didn’t follow instructions and this lead to what they went through in Nigeria. It was told they the Libyan team informed the NNF just an hour to their departure heading to Nigeria. The NNF not minding the limited time they had to put things in place for their arrival. Gave the Libyan instructions to follow which they didn’t follow that instructions. Were asked to land at Uyo airport but they landed in another location which saw things going contrary to what was planned.
As a guest how can you go against my orders.
If they felt the NNF neglected them, the best to do is report to the CAF rather than taking laws in to their hands by retaliating . they should be punished for that actions. How about Nigeria football team went against they planned on their arrival thereby making things complicated for them. Hope they see the wrong in their retaliation.

Anyways the CAF should me sure they treat this matter fairly when they’re done with their investigation and comes to conclusion.

Honestly if these issue hasn't gotten this far I some how believe that CAF would have acted differently on this matter. But I still feel they should play this game on a neutral ground since traveling to Libya is not too healthy base on what happened. If CAF are going to say something about this issue I think they shouldn't leave the game. IMO I don't think this is how to go about dishing out your anger or revenge on the Eagles and now it seems like Nigeria did nothing from the start.

As much as I'd like to back Nigeria, it's important to note that Libya made a fair point too although the way they went about it in a bid to get their revenge really sucks.  I will be looking forward to the results that would ne yielded by CAF. They knew about issues like these were looming for a long time now and they are only taking action because it had gotten global medium coverage that they can no longer ignore it.

The game has been unlisted btw.

Transparency is key here. CAF needs to prioritize the safety and welfare of the players and ensure that incidents like this are fully investigated, with consequences where necessary. Football is meant to unite people, not create tensions, and it’s essential that proper protocols are in place to prevent these situations from escalating

It’s good to see that CAF has launched an investigation and referred the matter to their disciplinary board. Hopefully, this will lead to appropriate actions and serve as a warning to other countries to uphold fair play and respect.

If CAF finds out that what the Libyans did was on purpose and that they did at as retaliation to the unplanned treatment that they received in Nigeria instead of reporting the issue to CAF as Nigeria did, then they should face punishment for it. Airplanes fly with a calculated amount of fuel based on their distance, let us imagine that the airplane carrying the Nigerian team ran out of fuel while the pilot was following the order to land in another airport not in their flight plan, that would have been a big tragedy to football. The Libyans did not act well.

Something you seem to forget though, we live in a digital age where a lot of persons have got mobile phones and these guys aren’t just anyone, they are the super eagles team and not the kind that people would just pass by without taking pictures or making a video or something. You wouldn’t stop people from posting that or having some kind of narrative to the events that result in such neglect and it’s always a two side story.

No one can really tell what it is at the moment but, it’s the duty of CAF to properly look into the issue and @Slow death, football have seen a lot of advancement over the years, you’ll be rest assured something would be done about this. Tickets were bought for this event, flight tickets, hotels and all. Having it canceled for some unexplained reason(s) can’t be were it ends.

I read about this today and it reminded me so much about what's going on with the Greek football federation.
Sometimes the leaders in football are so disconnected from reality and care only about money that it becomes absurd.

In Greece there's an olygrarch called Marinakis, he owns olympiakos, the biggest Greek team, and he's mostly known among the general public for one of his ships being caught with the biggest ever cargo of heroin that he was about to import. Somehow all the witnesses to this case died mysteriously and he still walks free. Everyone in Greece hates this man. Yet he was elected by other team owners to be the leader of the Greek football federation... I think the issue is money really. When money entered football federation everything got ruined. I'd much rather federations be governed by elected representatives from each country, from the fans of teams, and not from the rich owners.

What should we call this drama today, revenge, or match manipulation by the Libyan side?
Whichever one, I believe CAF is there to do their very job and shouldn't jeopardize or play politics on this matter so that the party which is found guilty of the act and supposed to get sanction won't at the end.

But on the other hand, let's say this was the true reason and how the Libyan team was treated when they came to play their mach in Nigeria, why didn't they “Libya” speak up? Before or after the game when they came to play in Nigeria, and CAF should have looked into the matter before scheduling this very game today, Now their action has become obvious for everyone to see.

This is really something CAF need to take time before making any decision because from what both captains are saying is like the both teams had same issues but who are we to blame on this crazy act? Who's at fault or who started this madness?
To me we can't just jump into conclusion and start pointing accusing fingers that this is who started it. For now I believe CAF are investigating the whole situation and if any of these two countries are found guilty it will be hot on them either Libya or Nigeria, my problem is how long will it take?

We should not conclude on anything yet except we hear back from them, we need to hear the official statement on what transpired from the time of their landing to this current one, i want to believe there is no need for such action if things had been all well with them right from their time of landing, i also expect the CAF to intervene on the situation and ensure that they have make everything from the both end equal and at peace.

While surfing my Facebook as usual, I was able to came across Fabrizio Romano page of over 19million followers, who happens to be an Italian sports journalist who specializes in news about football, both transfers and other related, of which I was able to come across the statement which the Libyan football team Captain said, claiming that's how they were treated in their last match few days ago in Nigeria, of which it's vividly obvious what happened to our Super Eagles players was actually planned and intentional (i.e Pay Back). Hence, I'm looking forward to hear what CAF will have to say about this uncomfortable treatment, because I just checked their official Twitter, and not has been said yet.

   

What the captains of both team has to say above

What happened will be made known to the public as thorough investigation is ongoing.
We hope they CAF tell the truth and not try to protect anyone who’s at fault, and should punish who’s at fault. Using this as a warning to others countries in the AFCON who will want misbehave

From the news I read on Punch newspaper earlier today, the super eagle team were actually heading towards the country's second largest city, Benghazi on a flight enroute Benghazi airport before they had to face a quick rerouting to a smaller airport in another city which was the Al Abraq International Airport in Al Abraq city. The airport was said to be majorly reserved for Hajj pilgrimage among other international travels though.

The match was scheduled to hold in Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benghazi city, hence the reason why their flight was on board and billed to land in Benghazi airport, but the problem came when the plane was diverted to Al Abraq Airport, it became the Genesis of the problem. Although I am not the mouthpiece here but I feel like the airport had poor management and the lack of responsiveness of Libyan Football Federation.

If the management staff was prompt and accommodating, I feel like they would have treated the players with much care and respect. Also they would have tried to reach out to LFF or LFF corresponding with them to provide a better treatment and courtesy to the players. Now that the match has been postponed, the players are already paranoid with the incident and will return back to their home country until the issue is address properly and professionally, I most presume.

Football was supposed to unite countries and nations but the reverse is the case.

The issues between CAF and the two  countries that are involved should be blamed directly to CAF. Before any country should be qualified to partake in the AFCON competition. There should be a certain requirement and if these countries cannot provide a certain kind of treatment and hostility to the country coming over they shouldn't be accepted into the AFCON competition.

Its so annoying that simple transportation system cannot be provided by Libya and Nigeria. They don't take the competition serious in that case. When it comes to games like this, no one is superior. Everyone deserves the same treatment whether the country is passionate about football or not.

I'm not sure what to say but it seems like Nigeria players weren't welcomed properly at Libya airport and that's why they returned back. It's really strange that Super Eagles of Nigeria weren't able to play vs Libya game. And, it seems like CAF isn't taking proper action against those Libyan authorities who misused their powers.

There was no need to create another thread because there is another thread to discuss AFCON and CAF and you can see it here https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5507543. I will advise you to move this thread to that thread so the discussion should continue from there. I have not seen the bylaws of CAF so I can't tell if they are doing well or not but from far looking at them, they are not doing well, they would have taken a measure when the Super Eagles were complaining about the stranded at AI abaq in Libya. But they were mute until the boys came back to the mother land again before they are trying to investigate the immediate and remote caused of the whole scenario.

We have had issues of countries not appreciating the reception they received in certain countries, this is not a situation that is peculiar to African football. CAF is responsible for keeping countries in check and in accordance with laid down guidelines, they do not host delegates or plan their travel itinerary.

With the information that has filtered to the internet what we know now is;
• The Nigerian team felt mistreated by their host,
• They have also refused to participate in the match that was scheduled to hold today,
• Libya similarly complained of how they were hosted in the reverse fixture last week,
• Very likely both countries will be lodging compliants to CAF with the evidence they can provide.

We have to just wait for the outcome of investigations and the scheduled match as players have to return to their clubs very soon. A postponed international match cannot be easily rescheduled.

It's unfair that football competitions which was made to unite people together have been used the opposite way to bring disunity within countries. Libya should be the one at fault because, I don't see how a visitor will go and ferment trouble away from home when they only went there to play against the host. Who knows, maybe, Libya knows that they will be defeated and decided not to welcome the Super Eagles into their country from the airport. CAF will investigate and find out who is at fault before any action can be taken.

 

Excuse me for laughing, but I am African and I have lived here in Africa since I was born and something I have learned living here in Africa is that most African governments are corrupt and this corruption is in football and sports in general. In this case of Nigeria, CAF will not find anything to blame Libya because all evidence will be destroyed, the management of the Libyan airport will be able to say that it was an incident that was not intentional and there will be no way for CAF to say otherwise. Also, the Libyan government can instruct all Libyans who had contact with the Nigerian delegation to say that the Nigerian delegation was treated well in Libya and of course CAF will believe them and all they will do is reschedule the game to another place and no one will be punished.

We should not call CAF into question just yet. They cannot preempt the actions countries will take what they can do is do thorough investigations and punish anyone who is found to be at fault to serve as a deterrent to other countries who may consider acting in a similar way.

With the available situation, it certainly looks like Libya is at fault for trying to sabotage the Nigerian team and their claim of similar mistreatment does not hold water as that is a situation you report formally to the governing body and not plan a revenge scheme.

Bookies have taken the game off and the Nigerian players have returned to their country so the game is off for now.

- Jay -

You should not jump to conclusions about CAF; the shortcoming in the welfare of the visiting players is a breach in the regulations that they have, the regulations guiding football. They will carry out investigations, and then I am sure they will give some kind of punishment if it is found that the actions of the host country were intentional.

Investigations are ongoing currently, and the game is postponed to be held at a later date.

We will be looking forward to the outcome of this investigation because the decision that CAF will take will be very important to help this kind of situation not to happen again.

No one knows what happened yet. According to what I read on the news, the Super Leagues of Nigeria left Libya airport after they have been there for over 14 hours. Libya Football Federation alleged sabotage and threatened legal action against Nigeria according to what I saw on the news. Which means something happened at Libya airport between Nigerian football players and Libyans at the airport. Very bad that we do not know exactly what happened. The match has been cancelled or maybe postponed.

I’m creating this trend to discuss the importance of the AFCON and the countries involved. Considering what is really going on with Nigeria and Libya. It’s obvious the CAF aren’t taking accurate measures towards the welfare of this countries and it’s players. Considering how football unites different categories of people and the fun is enjoyable . Without taking full responsibilities and measures could see countries clashing with each other as a result of ignorance of the CAF.

Let’s discuss the issues at hand and also outline the solutions to each problems.
Before this turns from being fun to bringing conflict.
Let’s keep the fun going