The Nigeria National Team found itself stranded at Al Abaq Airport in Bayda City, before their reverse fixture for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Libya.
According to team spokesman Promise Efoghe, their flight was diverted an hour before landing in Benghazi to an airport 240 kilometers away.
“About an hour to landing, the Nigerian aircraft approaching its destination, Benghazi, was diverted to another city more than two-hour drive from the original destination,” Efoghe told ESPN.
Team captain William Troost-Ekong shared on X that they have spent over 12 hours at the “abandoned” airport.
“12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Lybia after our plane was diverted whilst descending. Lybian government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games,” Ekong wrote on Monday morning.
“They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games.”
Libya claims they were also mistreated in Nigeria
On the other hand, Libyan captain Faisal Al-Badri demanded “reciprocity” after claiming that the team received unfair treatment in Nigeria.
“Our luggage was searched inside the plane for an hour…..And we were also delayed in transportation from one city to another for three hours even though we travelled on a private plane, and there was an airport close to the city we wanted to play in,” he said.
“After a long time, three non-air-conditioned minibusses and a police car arrived, in addition to two cars from the Libyan embassy.
“The question is, how long will we continue to receive this kind of reception? While other teams are received in the best airports and hotels, should we always be patient in the face of these things?
“We have suffered from this problem for many years, and although we are willing to tolerate it, there must be a solution to these practices. We demand that the relevant authorities look into these actions, and we express the need for reciprocity.”
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) disputed those claims with their Director Emmanuel Ayabunmi stating that the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) caused their own chaos by not clearly communicating their arrival plans.
Ayabunmi explained that last-minute changes led to logistical challenges, which the LFF avoided by choosing to travel by road to save costs.
“It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he [Lybian official] told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt.
“Apparently, that would have meant additional cost to the LFF from the charter company….. And they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road,” Ayabunmi said as quoted by ESPN.
