It was the game that never happened. Nigeria travelled to Libya for their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 qualifier, but a ball was never kicked.
On Sunday, the Nigeria national team were supposed to land in Benghazi but instead were diverted to Al Abraq, over 200 miles from their destination. When they arrived, they were locked in the airport without any food or water and were forced to spend the night on the floor of the airport’s departure lounge.
Their captain, William Troost-Ekong posted on social media platform X, detailing the ordeal, which lasted over 20 hours. In light of the incident, Nigeria decided that they would boycott the game and would therefore return straight to Nigeria without kicking a ball.
Speaking to L’Équipe, FC Nantes’ Moses Simon (29) compared the situation in the Libyan airport to a hostage situation.
“We felt as though we were taken hostage. When we arrived, there was no one. We ended up saying that we would have to sleep there. The federation had, however, managed to find us a hotel but it was forbidden for the Nigerians! We stayed there, without a bed without food or water, in the middle of the mosquitos,” said Les Canaris’ forward.
Simon added that everyone was “scared” about the situation. “When you see that they’re blocking the road, locking the doors in the airport, naturally you worry that something is going to happen to you,” he said.
The Nigeria national team landed back home on Monday evening. Simon said he was “relieved” to have returned and said that there is no question of him being unavailable to face OGC Nice on Sunday.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle
