The African Football Confederation (CAF) Disciplinary Board awarded Nigeria a forfeit win of 3-0 against Libya in the fourth-round qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be held in Morocco, according to a press release on Saturday.
The decision follows Nigeria’s withdrawal from the match, initially scheduled for October 15 in Benghazi, after being stuck in Libya’s Labraq Airport before the match.
Nigerian players and officials were kept in a locked airport for more than 16 hours with no access to food or water and no contact with Libyan officials, international media reported.
CAF’s Disciplinary Committee found that Libya’s Football Federation breached Article 31 of the TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code. It was fined $50,000, which must be paid within 60 days.
The Libya Football Federation stated that the incident was unintentional, noting that its players encountered travel challenges during their previous match in Nigeria four days earlier. They had previously raised concerns regarding the conditions for players and officials upon arriving in Nigeria for the October 11 qualifier in Uyo, where their flight landed hours away from the match venue, leading to significant delays.
Nigeria won the first-leg game with a score of 1-0. Libya’s conduct toward the Nigerian team was viewed as a tit-for-tat move.