Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has addressed the ongoing issues surrounding the recent Libya vs. Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier. Speaking at a press conference on October 22, he condemned the treatment of Nigeria’s Super Eagles at the airport in Libya ahead of their scheduled match.
The Super Eagles were set to face Libya in the return leg on October 15, 2024, but they opted not to play after being held at the airport for over 20 hours. Their flight to Benghazi was diverted to a smaller airport just as they were approaching the intended destination, leading to their decision to abandon the match and return to Abuja.
Motsepe expressed strong disapproval of the incident but stated he would refrain from commenting further until a formal investigation is concluded. “We should have zero tolerance for such behavior,” he said. “While I won’t comment specifically on the Nigerian team’s situation in Libya, I want to stress that we will not tolerate these occurrences.”
He noted that this is part of a larger pattern of unprofessionalism that has plagued the sport. “I’ve heard too many reports of teams being held at airports for hours and questioned about non-existent documents. This lack of sportsmanship has persisted, and we need to take effective action. We are currently reviewing our regulations to reinforce the importance of sportsmanship in football.”
