The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) is voicing its discontent with the ruling issued by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) regarding the airport incident involving Nigeria. It is important to note that members of the Nigerian team faced a distressing situation upon their arrival at Al-Abraq Airport for what was supposed to be the return fixture in their ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualification campaign. Members of the Nigerian team contingent were left stranded upon arrival at the Al Abraq airport in Libya.
The troubling circumstances encountered by the Super Eagles raised significant concerns within the global football community, prompting CAF to issue a statement condemning the incident before ultimately delivering its judgment. In the wake of CAF’s ruling, the Libyan FA has continued to express its dissatisfaction with the verdict. FA President, Nasser Al-Suwai, emphasised that Libya was penalised due to Nigeria’s influence within CAF. He also announced the federation’s intention to appeal the decision, and reports from media outlet, Libyan Review, indicate that the LFF is actively pursuing this course of action.
Libya FA set to appeal CAF’s punishment According to the report, the LFF is keeping its word to appeal the three points, three goals, and the $50,000 allotted to the Nigerian team and has already contracted the services of Tunisian lawyer Ali Abbas to lead the appeal. The report also details that the LFF is willing to go as far as taking CAF to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if a favourable verdict isn’t achieved. This move by the Libyan FA appears to be a subtle surprise to many, especially considering that one piece of evidence CAF used to draw its judgment on the incident was the testimony of a Tunisian pilot who flew the plane to Al-Abraq.
It remains to be seen how things pan out, but it must be stated that the airport saga involving both countries and CAF is far from finished. CAF eases Libya’s penalty TUKO.co.ke in another report detailed that CAF has eased Libya’s sanctions following its verdict on the airport incident. Players of the Nigerian team were subjected to an unsavoury treatment upon arrival in Libya for their initially scheduled AFCON qualification fixture. CAF has since eased a few of the sanctions that it meted out to the North African nation.
Source: Legit.ng