The Nigerian Super Eagles were due to face Libya in an Afcon qualifier tomorrow but will now boycott the match after their flight into Libya saw them diverted to the small and abandoned Al Albraq airport.

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The team, which included Premier League top-scorers such as Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi and Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi, were routed for Benghazi airport but ended up 230km away at Al Albraq. The squad were then stranded at the airport overnight, for at least 12 hours! 

Nigerian Football Federation media manager Promise Efoghe said no reason was given for the decision to divert the plane, heightening the team's distrust. The extent of the teams suspicions of Libyan authorities was highlighted in William Troost-Ekong’s following social media post:

"We will not accept to travel anywhere by road here even with security. It’s not safe," Troost-Ekong added.

"We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like given to us if we continued.

"We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with [international] football."

Nigerian team captain Troost-Ekong reported from the airport: 

“They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games…

At this point we have called for our Nigerian government to intervene and rescue us…

I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour."

Striker Victor Boniface also added via a social media post that the squad were left without anywhere to sleep. 

The alleged poor treatment comes after Libya had claimed their players were treated badly whilst in Nigeria ahead of their weekend 1-0 defeat by the Super Eagles. 

A Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official added that the squad were “completely abandoned” and then locked inside the airport unable to leave. Troost-Ekong along with and his team ultimately announced the significant decision, stating:

“We have decided that we will not play this game”.

Whilst the Libyan Football Federation stated they were “deeply concerned” by the situation, they vehemently denied that the unfortunate series of event were in anyway deliberate or orchestrated. An LFF representative stated:

“There are no grounds to accuse the Libyan security teams or the LFF of deliberately orchestrating this incident..

Such actions are inconsistent with our values and principles… We firmly reject any claims that suggest foul play or sabotage in this situation."

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