Libya vs Nigeria: Sports minister shuns CAF’s pleas, backs Super Eagles to abandon fixture

Nigeria’s 2025 AFCON qualification campaign has been thrown off track after the Super Eagles were stranded for 12 hours at a Libyan airport, leading to their decision to pull out of the crucial match against the Mediterranean Knights.

Despite calls from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to proceed with the game, Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, has thrown his full support behind the team’s decision to abandon the fixture, prioritising their safety.

The Super Eagles' chartered flight, en route to Benghazi for their AFCON qualifier, was suddenly diverted to Al Abraq Airport leaving the Nigerian team stranded at the airport for more than 15 hours, with no help from the Libyan Football Federation.

The players were left without food or proper rest, and frustrations quickly boiled over, leading to Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong taking to social media, voicing the team’s anger.

"Once we landed they've kept us in this abandoned airport for over 12 hours now without any provisions. Are we still talking about international football?

"We have kept our spirit up but these are no conditions we will accept when done on purpose. It was funny before but as a team we respect ourselves and under these conditions, we won't play. @caf_online.” Ekong posted.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) echoed this sentiment, confirming that the players would not participate in the match.

The NFF is now arranging for the team’s safe return home, effectively pulling them out of the fixture against Libya.

In response to the situation, Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, addressed CAF in a strong statement, refusing to prioritize the match over the team’s safety.

“This morning I was on a conference call with CAF President and CAF Secretary General.

While the CAF President's concern seems to be what to do to get the national team participate in tomorrow's match, I have instead informed CAF that the concern of the Government and people of Nigeria is first, the safety of the team and their safe return, urging that CAF should focus on working with us to achieve this,” Enoh said in his post on X.

“There must be a serious adverse consequence to the Libyan football federation for this unspeakable behaviour. This can not be through insisting that Nigeria still takes part in this match given the very obvious situation,” he concluded.

While Nigeria’s decision to withdraw from the match has gained backing from the government, it could lead to severe consequences for the team’s AFCON campaign.

According to CAF regulations, any team that refuses to play a scheduled match, except in cases of force majeure, can be docked three points and three goals. Worse still, Nigeria could face outright elimination from the tournament.