FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Africa Cup of Nations - Final - Nigeria v Ivory Coast - Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara, Abidjan, Ivory Coast - February 11, 2024 Nigeria's Victor Osimhen and teammates look dejected after Ivory Coast's Franck Kessie scores their first goal REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
(Reuters) - The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) said Nigeria were to blame for the postponement of Tuesday's scheduled Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Benghazi after the visitors refused to play the match citing mistreatment on arrival in the country.
Nigerian players and officials were kept in a locked airport for over 16 hours almost 250km away from their intended destination after their charter flight was redirected while on approach to Benghazi and instead landed in Bayda.
They said they had no access to food or water, or contact from Libyan officials during the episode, and decided to fly back to Nigeria on Monday rather than fulfil the fixture.
The LFF had said on Monday that the incident was not deliberate and urged Nigeria to be understanding, adding that their players had also faced travel difficulties last week.
The Confederation of African Football has said it has referred the matter to its disciplinary board.
The LFF said in a statement it deplored the actions taken by the Nigeria Football Federation and that it would take all legal measures to protect the interests of the national team.
"The Libyan Football Federation apologises to the Libyan football fans everywhere and the parties concerned with the arrangements of the match due to the state of confusion caused by the Nigerian Football Federation, which led to the failure to hold the match on time," it added.
The LFF had earlier complained about the treatment of their players and officials on arrival in Nigeria for a qualifier in Uyo last week, which saw their flight land hours away from the match venue and the players endured long travel delays.
Nigeria won that match 1-0 and are in pole position to qualify for the Cup of Nations finals that will be staged in Morocco late next year. The top two teams in each qualification pool advance to the finals.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
