JUST IN: CAF awards 3 points, 3 goals to Nigeria, fines Libya $50,000 over missed game
Joseph Irikefe
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Saturday awarded three points, and three goals to Nigeria for the missed Libya game.
This was announced in a press statement issued on Saturday by CAF’s Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Board, Ousmane Kane.
The statement explained that the decision to award Nigeria the points was taken after findings by the disciplinary committee it set up to look into the matter between the Libya and Nigerian senior football men’s team, found Libya guilty of the inhumane treatment meted out to the Super Eagles.
CAF said the disciplinary board decided that; “The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the African, Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, and that the match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).”
Following the conclusion of the board’s findings, CAF also ordered the Libya Football Federation to pay a fine of $50,000 within 60 days of notification of the present decision.
The Super Eagles, accused Libyan authorities of deliberately diverting their flight a few days ago.
This made the team players officials and players stranded and eventually decided not to honour the 2025 AFCON qualifier against Libya.
CAF President, Patrice Motsepe had earlier insisted that the institution would take proper action after the investigation hostage saga the Nigerian national team experienced at Al Abraq Airport ahead of their clash against Libya,
President Motsepe while speaking at the ongoing General Assembly on Tuesday said the organisation is committed to accountability in such matters.
He said: “When there was this problem of the Nigerian national team in Libya. I will not comment on that because there is a proper investigation [going on] but I want to emphasise the principle we will not tolerate, because this is something that has been going on for quite some time. Forget about the Nigeria-Libya situation because it has been properly investigated and appropriate action will be taken.
“I have heard too many stories of a football club or a national team going to a country. You spend hours at the airport and they ask you about documents that are not meant to be accessed. And apparently during Covid, they will look at the 10 best players from your team and say those players have Covid. These are lack of sportsmanship that has existed and we have not taken effective action,” he said.