Nigeria boycotts Tuesday's Africa Cup qualifier in Libya. The Nigerians were stranded at a deserted airport on their journey.
Nigeria's delegation spoke of unacceptable circumstances. The team led by top striker Victor Boniface landed unscheduled at Al-Abraq airport, around 200 km from the venue in Benghazi. The Nigerians were stuck there for around 15 hours - in a closed waiting area with no food or drink. When transportation was finally provided by Libya, the team refused the three-and-a-half-hour bus ride due to security concerns.
Victor Boniface, Granit Xhaka's team-mate at Bayer Leverkusen, defended the boycott of the match: "I've been at the airport for almost 13 hours, no food, no Wi-Fi, nowhere to sleep," said the 23-year-old on "X", "we just want to get back to our country."
Nigeria accused Libya of having deliberately retaliated by rerouting the outbound flight. Libya had complained after the first leg (1:0 for Nigeria) that their team had been treated badly.
SDA
