The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has rubbished allegations of poor treatment made by Libya’s national team captain, Faisal Al-Badri, regarding their arrival in Nigeria ahead of their 2025 AFCON qualifier,Soccernet.ng reports.
The Mediterranean Knights of Libya arrived Nigeria two days ago in their bid to tackle the Super Eagles in the first leg of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Having arrived in Nigeria, Al-Badri claimed on his Facebook, as reported by Libyan news outlet, that the Nigerian officials hindered what could have been a smooth arrival for them in Nigeria.
“We left the hotel at six in the morning, and the plane took off at nine. The flight took four hours, and thus we arrived in Nigeria at one in the afternoon, Libyan time.”
“Our luggage was searched inside the plane for an hour, and we were also delayed in transportation from one city to another for three hours, even though we travelled on a private plane, and there was an airport close to the city we wanted to play in.
“We later contacted the company responsible for transporting and securing the mission, but they informed us that there was no police patrol at the time, which increased the risk.
“After a long time, three non-air-conditioned minibuses and a police car arrived, in addition to two cars from the Libyan embassy.”
Reacting to this, the Nigerian FA claimed that the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) is responsible for the disarray their team experienced.
Mr. Emmanuel Ayanbunmi, NFF’s Assistant Director of Protocol, revealed that the Libyan team failed to communicate their travel plans in a timely manner.
“We were only informed three hours before their arrival that they were landing in Port Harcourt, not Uyo as expected,” Ayanbunmi stated.
The NFF had arranged to receive the Libyan team in Uyo based on prior discussions with the LFF’s General Secretary, who did not mention a change in plans until it was too late.
“On Monday, October 7th, I spoke at length with the LFF’s General Secretary, and he never indicated that the team would arrive the next day. We only found out an hour after they were airborne,” Ayanbunmi explained.
In response to the sudden change, the NFF sought federal approval to allow the Libyan team’s plane to fly from Port Harcourt to Uyo after immigration formalities.
However, the LFF reportedly opted against this option to avoid additional costs from the charter company, deciding instead to travel by road.
The NFF added that while they provided the Libyan team with security escorts, the Libyan delegation chose to hire their own buses instead of using those arranged by the NFF.
“If they travelled on buses without air conditioning, that’s entirely their own doing. We provided adequate security, and their complaints and threats do not concern us,” Ayanbunmi concluded.
The NFF remains confident in their preparations as Nigeria looks forward to their next encounter with the Mediterranean Knights in the AFCON qualifiers.