Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Libya has been plunged into doubt after the Super Eagles squad was stranded overnight at Al Abraq airport before flying home.
The visitors were due to land in Benghazi on Sunday ahead of Tuesday’s AFCON qualifying game. Their plane was diverted to Al Abraq, approximately 230 kilometres away, where attempts to resolve the situation proved fruitless.
The Nigerian Football Federation has since insisted that the squad would not make the journey to Benghazi on safety grounds. An NFF spokesperson told BBC Sport Africa that their national team had been “completely abandoned”.
Players including captain William Troost-Ekong and striker Victor Boniface said the Nigeria players were left without food or water for more than 12 hours. NFF media manager Promise Efoghe complained about a lack of communication or support from their Libyan counterparts, although the host country’s FA denied assertions that foul play was afoot.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) described the incident as “disturbing and unacceptable” and launched an investigation.
So, when are Nigeria going to play Libya? And will the game go ahead at all?
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Is Libya vs. Nigeria match going ahead?
It would seem unlikely the fixture will be played as planned. Late on Monday, October 14, Nigeria’s squad flew back home to Kano.
In the last of a series of posts on X documenting the ordeal, Troost-Ekong left seemingly left little doubt over the team’s intentions not to go ahead with the match, doubling down on his earlier position.
“My last words about this and I look forward to continue (sic) our journey to the AFCON 2025 next month in November on the right way,” he wrote.
“Our goal of doing the best for Nigerian football won’t ever change.”
My last words about this and I look forward to continue our journey to the AFCON 2025 next month in November on the right way.
Our goal of doing the best for Nigerian football won’t ever change.
Now time to chop swallow & rest! pic.twitter.com/7HrO0gNYCO
— William Troost-Ekong (M.O.N) (@WTroostEkong) October 14, 2024
Will Libya vs. Nigeria be rearranged to a new date and time?
We don’t yet know if the fixture will go ahead, but assuming it does not, a decision will have to be taken on whether to officially postpone the match to a new date or declare a forfeit and award the points to Libya.
As things stand, the game is still due to take place on Tuesday, October 15 at Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benina — a town 19 kilometres east of Benghazi. Kickoff is slated for 9 p.m. local time (3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. BST). Of course, it’s highly unlikely it will go ahead as planned after Nigeria flew back home.
Nigeria won the reverse fixture 1-0 last week thanks to an 86th-minute goal from Fisayo Dele-Bashiru. That result kept the Super Eagles top of Group D and another victory on Tuesday would have sealed their place at the AFCON finals.
MORE: Fisayo Dele-Bashiru strikes late for Super Eagles to seal win over Libya
AFCON 2025 qualifying Group D standings
| Pos | Team | GP | Pts | W-D-L | GD |
| 1. | Nigeria | 3 | 7 | 2-1-0 | 4 |
| 2. | Benin | 3 | 6 | 2-0-1 | 1 |
| 3. | Rwanda | 3 | 2 | 0-2-1 | -3 |
| 4. | Libya | 3 | 1 | 0-1-2 | -2 |
