The recent incident involving Nigeria’s national football team, the Super Eagles, is a shocking example of how sport can sometimes find itself caught in the middle of political conflict and tension. Team captain William Troost-Ekong recounted an incident where his team was treated unacceptably when they arrived in Libya for a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
The players and coaching staff were left stranded at the airport after their flight was diverted to another city, forcing them to undertake a long drive to reach their destination. Upon arrival at Al Abaq airport, they were detained for over 12 hours, not allowed to leave the arrival hall, and denied food, drinks and any phone connection.
This inhuman and degrading treatment sparked anger and outrage from Ekong, who expressed his dismay on social media. He stressed that he had never been exposed to such a situation before, describing the attitude of the Libyan authorities as an unjustifiable mind game inflicted on his team.
Faced with this unacceptable situation, Ekong took the drastic decision to boycott the upcoming match against Libya. He called on the Nigerian authorities to intervene to resolve this crisis and ensure the safety and well-being of his team.
Incidents like this raise fundamental questions about the respect of the rights of sportsmen and women and how political rivalries can interfere with sport and its values. Football should be a means of bringing people together and promoting peace, but it is unfortunate to see how it can be misused to serve petty political interests.
It is crucial that football governing bodies, such as the Confederation of African Football (CAF), look into this matter carefully and take steps to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future. Athletes deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter which country they travel to represent their nation on the field.
Ultimately, the case of the Nigerian Super Eagles being held up at the airport in Libya is a stark reminder of the challenges that athletes can face and the need to protect the integrity of sport from any form of external interference. Hopefully, lessons will be learned from this incident to strengthen guarantees of safety and respect for all stakeholders in the world of sport.