Augustine Eguavoen Recounts Airport Ordeal in Libya One Month After Botched AFCON Qualifier
- The Super Eagles of Nigeria were held hostage by Libyan authorities at Al Abraq International Airport
- Nigeria were in Benghazi to honour the AFCON 2025 qualifier doubleheader second-leg tie
- Interim head coach Augustine Eguavoen has spoken about the incident one month after it happened
Super Eagles interim head coach Augustine Eguavoen has reflected on the Libyan airport hostage saga on the occasion of one month after it happened.
The Nigerian national team were in Libya to honour the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers doubleheader second leg match, but things turned out otherwise.
Source: Twitter
The staff and players of the Super Eagles were kept at the airport for about 16 hours after the Libyans dangerously redirected their plane from Benghazi to Al Abraq.
CAF cancelled the match and launched an investigation, after which the body awarded Nigeria three points and three goals and fined Libyan FF USD 50,000.
Eguavoen speaks on Libyan ordeal
Eguavoen, while addressing a press conference ahead of Group D matchday five encounter against Benin Republic, was asked about the team's ordeal in Libya, but he was diplomatic in his answers.
“I'm going to keep it very short. Normally, football or sports is a unifying factor, normally it's an entertainment to unite people, but I'll leave it like that,” he said, as quoted by ANS.
“I don't want to go back to what happened in Libya, otherwise I'll be saying things I don't want to say, so please, it has passed. Let's move forward.”
As noted by the Libyan News Agency, the North Africans launched an appeal against the heavy CAF sanctions, but CAF has yet to respond to their official petition.
Libyan football has also undergone some internal restructuring, with an election in the federation on the cards after Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani resigned.
How Libya could qualify for AFCON 2025
Legit.ng analysed how Libya could qualify for AFCON 2025 despite CAF's verdict favouring the Super Eagles and leaving the North Africans on the brink of missing out.
Their path to the tournament in Morocco is not in their hands as they will need help from Nigeria, which they mistreated, making it nearly impossible to happen.
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Source: Legit.ng
