Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Senator John Owan Enoh, has strongly criticized the recent actions of Libyan authorities who detained the Nigerian Super Eagles and their officials at Al-Abraq Airport – about three hours away from the match venue.
The Nigerian men’s national team squad arrived in Libya on Sunday night but were asked to not touchdown in Benghazi, leading to the team’s flight diverting to Al-Abraq Airport where the squad has been left stranded for over 12 hours.
This has led the Sports Minister to condemn Libyan officials over the situation. “The actions by the Libyan authorities are deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable,” Senator Enoh stated.
The Senator added: “Holding our national team and officials’ hostage under any circumstances violates not only international sporting protocols but also the principles of respect and hospitality that should be extended to all visiting teams.”
He added that the Nigerian government will not tolerate any form of disrespect or mistreatment toward the Super Eagles players and officials.