In a landmark and historic decision, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded three points, and three goals to the Super Eagles of Nigeria for the missed Libya game.
It can be recalled that the away game against Libya was abandoned after the Super Eagles of Nigeria were left unattended to for over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival without food and water. They also survived a plane crash when their flight was inexplicably diverted to another airport 300km away from the city of the game.
As a result, CAF suspended the game and handed it to their disciplinary committee for a decision on the next step on the game. This committee has now reached decision and they have declared a win for Nigeria with three goals. A result which effectively seal their spot at next year’s AFCON.
Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Board, Ousmane Kane said the decision to award Nigeria the points was taken after findings by the disciplinary committee it set up to look into the matter, found Libya guilty of the inhumane treatment meted out to the Nigerian senior men’s football team.
The Disciplinary Board of the Confederation of African Football also fined the Libyan Football Federation for the Super Eagles’ ordeal.
The 5-man disciplinary committee consist of; Mr. Ousmane Kane (Senegal) Chairperson, Ms. Njeri Onyango (Kenya) Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Felix Golbassia (Tchad) Member, Mr. Patrick Shale (Lesotho) Member, and Mr. Norman Arendse (South Africa) Member.
With the CAF decision, Nigeria is now poised to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with two matches to spare.
The Eagles are now on 10 points from four matches, four points better than second-placed Benin Republic, while Rwanda have five points. Bottom-placed Libya have only one point and are out of the running for qualification.
Victory or draw against the Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan on Thursday, 14th November (a Matchday 5 encounter) will land the Super Eagles a ticket to the finals in Morocco, December 2025/January 2026.
See historic ruling below;
1) The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
2) The match No. 87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October in Benghazi) declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).
3) The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000.
4) The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision.
