The Confederation of AFrican Football (CAF) is expected to announce its verdict on the botched Morocco 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between Libya and Nigeria this week.
The body, which gave the two parties to the dispute up till yesterday to submit documents to back their claims in the dispute, is expected to start sitting today and deliver its verdict this week.
Libya were billed to host Nigeria in a Group D Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifier in Benghazi, on October 15, but the Super Eagles boycotted the match when their plane was diverted to Al Abraq Airport, where they were held for over 16 hours without food, water or access to the Internet.
After boycotting the game, Nigeria petitioned CAF over their “inhumane” treatment by Libya, just as the Libya Football Federation (LFF) appointed a lawyer to defend it against the charges and possibly award the match to it.
CAF last week appointed a committee to investigate the incident and punish any of the parties found culpable in the crisis.
The crisis has reportedly polarised CAF with Morocco and Tunisia allegedly mobilising the Arab nations to support Libya’s cause. The Libyans have also raised concerns about possible collusion from some parties within CAF.
While fielding their response to CAF’s query on the botched game, the LFF pleaded with the African football governing body to temper justice with mercy claiming that the body has no hand in the incident that led to the cancellation of the game.
According to the Secretary General, Nasser Al-Suwale, who is supervising the body following the recent resignation of its president, the order to divert the plane to Al-Abraq Airport was made by the Libyan government and not the federation.
Speaking to the Libyan media, Al-Suwale also said that the LFF did not deliberately leave the Super Eagles at the Al- Abraq Airport for over 16 hours, claiming that the government’s diversion of the flight from the initial Benghazi destination created logistics problems. He told his audience that the LFF is expecting a favourable decision, adding, however, that some elements in CAF want a severe punishment on Libya.
But while the LFF scribe is pleading for mercy, a prominent Libyan football official, Al-Siddiq Abu Hadima, has called for tough sanction on the LFF officials responsible for Nigeria’s ill-treatment, saying that the incident has put Libya in bad light.
According to sportsvillagesquare, Hadima, a former president of Al-Dhahra Club, asked for the dismissal and prosecution of those responsible for the crisis. Libya’s outlet, Al-Wasat, reports that Hadima recommended that if such people failed to submit a report that will exonerate them in the dispute, “then they must be prosecuted and permanently dismissed.”
Al-Wasat got Hadima’s comments from his post on Facebook and remarked: “This negligence – if it happened – constitutes a betrayal of trust and a lack of awareness of the gravity of responsibility.”
Nigeria currently tops Group D with seven points from three matches. Benin is second with six points from four matches, Rwanda is third (five points from four matches), while Libya is last with one point from three matches.
Meanwhile, CAF will hold its executive committee (EXCO) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, today with its president, Dr Patrice Motsepe, presiding on the deliberations.
The meeting will be held ahead of the 46th Ordinary General Assembly which will also hold in the Ethiopian capital tomorrow. Before then, the six zonal union meetings, which started yesterday, will end today ahead of the CAF assembly at the African Union Hall.
