AFCON 2025: Foreign Affairs Minister links Super Eagles ordeal to Libya’s power tussle

AFCON 2025: Foreign Affairs Minister links Super Eagles ordeal to Libya’s power tussle

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tugar, has said the recent challenge experienced by the Super Eagles of Nigeria in Libya was largely caused by the political crisis in the country.

Tugar disclosed this while addressing the media following a courtesy call from the President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, on Tuesday. 

The meeting came in the wake of alarming reports surrounding the Super Eagles’ struggle during their recent visit to Libya for the second leg of the Group D 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Minister expressed deep concern over the safety and well-being of the national team, who were forced to boycott the match against Mediterranean Knights of Libya scheduled for Tuesday after enduring a series of distressing events upon arrival.

Tugar noted that resolving the issue was a bit challenging due to underlying tensions between the two competing Libyan governments 

“It’s unfortunate because Libya still remains a divided country with two competing governments. The acting ambassador we have here is from the western government, whereas the national team was sent into the eastern territory. We had to engage with the Foreign Minister of the Eastern Libya to ensure the safety of our citizens,” Tugar revealed.

National Periscope gathered that 

Libya currently has three entities claiming to be governments – only one of which is recognised by the UN – and competing institutions divided between east and west.

The Foreign Affairs Minister therefore stressed the need for the NFF to coordinate with the Foreign Ministry for future travels to ensure players safety.

“It’s unfortunate but it also means that we have to work closely  with the NFF to ensure that whenever they are going out, we are fully aware and brief properly on the prevailing condition of wherever they are going to,” Tugar said 

He pointed out that the treatment was also influenced by what some Libya citizens perceived to be a poor reception given their team during the first leg of the game in Nigeria last week but urged the counties to embrace the sportsmanship spirit.

 “I think part of the problem was that some in Libya felt that there was poor treatment of their own football team when they came to Nigeria, but the essence of sports is to rise above such politics,” he remarked.

The Minister emphasized the importance of fairness in international sports and called on necessary bodies like the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to take note of Nigeria’s plight to prevent future occurrences. 

“A situation where a team will go out in a foreign country and they are subjected to this kind of treatment and still expected to be on top of their game when they play clearly you can see that this does not apply and it’s something that I think that the CAF and other bodies that supervise these soccer matches have to pay a close attention to and take decisive action so that it won’t occur again.” Tugar noted.

Narrating his team’s ordeal, the NFF President detailed the harrowing experience they underwent while detained. 

“We thought it was all over after landing, but we were directed to a small hall, surrounded by security officers. We were virtually cut off from the outside world without any means of communication or access to food,” 

“We tried to make efforts to see how we can even go out to get some food that we can eat but we were harassed and informed that there is no way we can get out of that place. So, that was when we realized that it is not going to be an easy thing.

“Later on we just have to decide to take whatever comes our way because there is nothing we can do under those circumstances. We can neither communicate to the embassy people because our earlier arrangement was not to land in Al Abraq. 

“So all necessary arrangements that we needed to do to our agents were being made in Benghazi, especially at the Benina Airport, which I understand is about 240 kilometers away,” he lamented, recounting the helplessness felt by the players and staff.

 “We had to keep our contacts within the Ministry of Sports and reach out to diplomatic channels to ensure our return,” Gusau said, praising the swift efforts made by the Foreign Affairs Ministry and security services.

The NFF President added that, but for the kind heartedness of the pilot and his co-pilot, the situation would have been worse.

“What made us even more worried was that the pilot and his crew were allowed to go out in order for them to go and get their accommodations to spend the night. Just after an hour, we saw them coming back. Then the pilot came to meet me and said, Mr President and I said, pilot, what happened you are back here? He said, No, we got to the hotel. 

“They said they were given an instruction that anybody that is carrying Nigeria passports should not be accommodated. The pilot is a Tunisian, and his co-pilot is from South Africa. He said, then, how can I come and sleep here and leave my crew? I can’t sleep here. So he said that is why they are back.

“He’s a Tunisian, and he walked in Libya for about two years as a pilot, that was even one of the key reasons that helped us to see that we land in an AL Abraq Airport safely, because all the necessary navigators and other things that were needed in an airport for such kind of landing were not at that airport. So it was just because he was used to the terrain for two years. That was how he was able to maneuver it and got us down,” Gusau narrated.

Meanwhile, he expressed gratitude to the Nigerian government and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for their unyielding support throughout the crisis. “I want to thank you once again, especially our leader, for all the efforts that ensured our safe return without anyone being harmed. We remain grateful,” said the NFF President.