African football greats Emmanuel Adebayor and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have condemned the treatment of Nigerian players by Libyan authorities.
In separate social media posts, the two former Arsenal players described the incident as barbaric and primitive.
In his post, Emmanuel Adebayor noted that such things are not good for the progress of African football.
"Nigerian Super Eagles were stranded at a Libyan airport, locked in without food, Wi-Fi, or a place to sleep after their flight was diverted. This type of behaviour is unacceptable for the progress of African football. No team should face such treatment. We stand with Nigeria's Super Eagles. Respect and fair play must come first on and off the field,” he wrote on Instagram.
On his part, Aubameyang wrote, “Anyway, that is not possible in 2024, acting like that.”
The game between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Libya looks set to be off after the Super Eagles returned to Nigeria on Monday, October 14, 2024, following their treatment by Libya.
The Nigerian contingent for the game was made to spend over 13 hours at the airport following their arrival in Libya.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria were stranded at Al-Abaq Airport ahead of their return encounter in the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Libya.
As per reports, the team’s chartered flight was headed towards the city of Benghazi before it was rerouted to a different location mid-air.
See their posts below
Anyway that is not possible in 2024 acting like that 🫣
— AUBA⚡️ (@Auba) October 14, 2024
EK