The Federal Government, on Monday, summoned the Libyan Charge d’Affaires in Abuja over the alleged mistreatment of the Super Eagles players and officials during their stay in Libya for the AFCON qualifiers.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuga, disclosed this to journalists after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Meanwhile, the Confederation Africaine de Football, CAF, has referred the fiasco to its disciplinary board for investigation. It said appropriate action would be taken against “those who violated the CAF Statutes and Regulations.”
On the summons, Tuga described the situation in Libya as unfortunate. He added that Nigerian officials from the country’s mission in Libya have been dispatched to engage with the Super Eagles delegation.
He said: “Well, it’s the most unfortunate situation because the Super Eagles flew to Libya to play a match. As you know, the Libyan team was here (last week).
“They were supposed to land in Uyo. Instead, they landed in Port Harcourt. And now our team has gone to Libya, and somehow the plane gets diverted to a different airport.
“And unfortunately, at that airport, there is no aviation fuel, because what we have decided is they need to refuel and get out. We will not be able to allow them to continue.
“You know, it’s a good thing when they (the Libyan delegation) landed in Kano, they actually even got water, otherwise even water would have been a problem.
“But suffice it to say that we have established contact with them. We have sent people from the mission to go there, representing the mission. They are in touch with the delegation.
“Now I am also communicating directly with the chairman (of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF).
“And since last night, we have been on the phone with the Chargé d’affaires because Libya doesn’t have an ambassador here.
“So we are in touch with the Chargé d’affaires. And I’m heading back to the ministry now, where we have summoned the Libyan Chargé d’affaires. This issue has to be resolved as quickly as possible. So we are on top of the situation.”
CAF steps in
This is just as CAF has said it will investigate and, appropriately, sanction anyone found wanting.
A statement on its website noted that: “The Confederation Africaine de Football, CAF, has been in contact with the Libyan and Nigerian authorities after it had been informed that the Nigerian National Football Team (‘Super Eagles’) and their technical team were stranded in disturbing conditions for several hours at an airport that they were allegedly instructed to land by the Libyan authorities.
“The matter has been referred to the CAF Disciplinary Board for investigation and appropriate action will be taken against those who violated the CAF Statutes and Regulations.”
Vanguard
Leave a Reply