Super Eagles captain, Williams Troost-Ekong, has said the life of the players are not safe hence they are not going to play the second leg game against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya scheduled for Tuesday, 15 October, 2024, reports thegazellenews.com.
It was confirmed on Sunday night, 13 October, 2024, that players and officials of Nigeria’s senior men’s national team were held hostage by Libyan authorities upon their arrival at Al Abaq Airport in Al Abaq.
In a video posted by the Eagles media team, the players and officials, along with their luggage, were left stranded at the airport, with the Libyan airport officials indifferent to their plight and conversing in Arabic.
Posting on his official IG account, Troost-Ekong said with what they already experienced, it will be difficult for the team to stay back in Libya for the game.
“We kept our spirit up but these are no conditions we will accept when done on purpose,” he wrote.
“Traveling by road is not safe here and you can only imagine how they would treat us in the hotel or the food they will try to give us.
“It was funny before but as a team we respect ourselves and under these conditions we won’t play. Even our pilot who is Tunisian, who wasn’t locked in like a hostage came back hours later. He was told in every nearby hotel they would only accept him and none of the Nigerian air crew members. Are we still talking about international football?”
Nigeria defeated Libya 1-0 in the first leg played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, on Friday and were expected to wrap up the qualification for 2025 AFCON with a win in Benina before the unfortunate incident.
