Super Eagles captain, William Troost-Ekong, don criticize di treatment wey Nigeria senior men football team dey face afta dem strand for over 12 hours for Al Abaq Airport for Libya. Di team suppose land for Benghazi for their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, but dem redirect dem to Al Abaq, where dem dey hold dem without explanation.
For some tweets early Monday morning, Troost-Ekong describe di situation as “disgraceful,” and accuse di Libyan authorities of playing “mind games.” He talk say di team dey stranded for one abandoned airport without access to food, drink, or phone connections.
“12+ hours in an abandoned airport in Libya after our plane was diverted whilst descending. The Libyan government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi without reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without a phone connection, food, or drink. All to play mind games. I’ve experienced issues before while playing away in Africa, but this is disgraceful behaviour,” he write.
He also mention di wahala wey di Tunisian pilot face, who manage di unexpected change of destination but later no get accommodation for him crew because of government order. Di pilot fit rest for di airport, but di Nigerian crew members no dey allowed to stay, so dem sleep for di plane.
“Even the Tunisian pilot, who thankfully managed to navigate the last-minute change to an airport not fit for our plane to land, had never seen anything like this before,” he write.
“Upon arrival, he tried to find a nearby hotel to rest with his crew but was denied at every hotel, again under government instruction. He could sleep there, but no Nigerian crew members were allowed. They have now returned to sleep on the plane, which is parked up,” Troost-Ekong add.
Di captain talk say di team don decide say dem no go play di scheduled match again because of safety concerns. “We will NOT play this game,” he declare, and urge di Nigerian government to intervene to rescue di stranded team.
Im question di safety of travelling by road for Libya and express doubts about di quality of di accommodation and food dem go get if dem continue with di match.
Im state, “We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen, but these deliberate actions have nothing to do with international football.”
Di Super Eagles travel go Libya for di second leg of their AFCON qualifying match against di Mediterranean Knights, afta dem win 1-0 for di first leg for Uyo on Friday. Di Confederation of African Football never respond to di situation wey
