TheGoodJoe:


I repeat, contingency plans. Contingency plans.

The Libyans were stranded in Port Harcourt and the NFF knew 3hrs before.

The emergency was in rivers State.

Are you saying the NFF Protocol team should fold their arms and scream it is not our fault?

The mistake had happened and they had a role to play to mitigate the situation.

Informing the Rivers State Sports Commissioner is one thing they could have done. At least to assist in receiving them at the airport.

A small delegation could have been put together to help receive them. This one does not need money.

This is one of the complaint from the Libyans. No one received them.

Another complaint was they could not make another flight charter.

NFF should have reached out for help.

They would have gotten it. It was an emergency and they abandoned the Libyans.

TheGoodJoe:


3hrs is not snap of the finger. It was an emergency. The team was stranded. NFF should tell us the contingency measures they took to help convey them safely to Uyo.

TheGoodJoe:


Hilarious but true.

Goke7:


Nff got them permit for their plane to land in uyo if Libya couldn’t afford it then it’s their responsibility, an ex sierraleone player who knows the antics of the Libyans also mention the issue of corruption on the side of the Libyans for their inability to fund that air lift to uyo. Nigeria can’t be blamed totally for that.

Goke7:

CAF is not a serious organisation as they are also culpable. Why approve a match in a venue that is controlled by another govt faction different from the capital of the country. To hell with CAF jor

daveP:


CAF really mess up.
But i also fault the NFF for not raising concerns about the state of that country even if games are ongoing there or whatever. if caf no get sense at least let nff get na.


Eg

See how officiating is ruining goals Lookman ought to have on his tab. I didn't see any formal complaints made to ensure such stop.

Im just happy how they handled the evacuation. New protocols are needed for guest teams at this point. Defaulters must be fined even if they seem hospitable. Let everyone align. But no competition needs such protocols than Caf club competitions right now.

TheGoodJoe:


With my few insights here, we should also prepare for a hammer from CAF too.

I don't think the NFF is being completely truthful.

TheGoodJoe:


Sorry to say it but this NFF seemed ridiculed with incompetence.

Even this Port Harcourt case, did the NFF formally reach out to the Libyan Football Federation to clarify that they were not behind the issues the team faced? At least for diplomatic reasons. They just ignored them.

TheGoodJoe:


Sorry to say it but this NFF seemed ridiculed with incompetence.

Even this Port Harcourt case, did the NFF formally reach out to the Libyan Football Federation to clarify that they were not behind the issues the team faced? At least for diplomatic reasons. They just ignored them.

Hanibal:

Oga you shared zero insights
Just plain annoying assumptions

You a football analyst should know better, during a football match if an opponent pull my shirt and it escaped the attention of the referee, and because of that I decided to slap the opponent in retaliation, who get case? Who is getting red carded?

And please just stop with this devil's advocate you're playing. LFF refused to foot the cost of a flight that will make their team comfortable, but it is the Nigerians that should be blamed for not running kirakita enough to save the day as spiderman/father christmas wey dem be?

They should start commanding money out of nowhere?
Call Akwaibom state government and scream Emergency! Emergency! Then money will be released in less than 3hrs, who exactly should they have called? The commissioner for finance or the state governor? At such short notice... Do you know how many months in advance it takes to plan a match and get funds released, do you how many letters get written and the approval stages involved?

Please stop throwing the word "incompetence" around... When you have no idea what you're talking about!

Reach out to Rivers state FA to put together a reception team with under 3hrs notice... Those ones nor get their lives to live, there is zero probability that most of their officials will be outside of Portharcourt at the time or even already in Uyo for the match, No! they're always on standby in portharcourt waiting for the next order abi? Even the army cannot get boots on ground that fast!

Baba just die this matter Abeg... This your reasoning dey vex person

Sugarboyy:

You know, I'm not holding brief for anyone, I have no personal relationship with either the foreign affairs minister or the NFF Chairman but because these 2 are northerners, most of them here has been calling them incompetent.
Someone even suggested over here that the minister of foreign affairs would have declared instant war on the Libyan government. So funny 🤣
One thing these people fails to realise is that no matter how bad Nigeria has become, before you get to some positions of leadership in this same country, you must have had either the education, knowledge or experience.
Most Nigerians always feel they can do better, until they find themselves in the position and noticed how clueless they have become, that's the traits most of them over here has been displaying.

Hanibal:


Nigerians go just dey shout incompetence, clueless upandan

Action film dey sweet to watch until you get in a real gunfight and see your life flash before you.

eazyjakes:


There are a number of issues to be considered here:

1) What is the standard protocol from CAF for the arrival and receiving of an away team for a game? I expect an official email to the host Federation detailing the flight itinerary at least 48hrs to the ETA with the CAF Secretariat being copied in such mail. This should be a minimum standard protocol to avoid ambiguity.

2) The North African Teams have an history of being evasive with their travel plans when they go play away games especially against Sub-Saharan African teams. This is partly due to their own sporting strategy and partly due to lack of trust that their host will be willing to genuinely take care of them without playing any mind games. Another factor is that the North Africans play these forms of mind games on their own visiting away teams and they do their best to also anticipate their opponents reciprocating these gestures. Another angle is that the Arab African world does not completely identify with sub saharan Africa for obvious reasons. For example, in November 2016, for a 2018 world cup qualifier game against Nigeria, Algeria NT came with their own water, pillows, beddings and foods.

3)Coming to the current issue on ground, The NFF officials confirmed speaking with the Libyan Representative on Monday evening to confirm their flight itinerary but was told they will let them(the NFF) know, only to inform them 3hours to the ETA that they will be landing in PH whilst the NFF claimed they had already secured a landing permit in Uyo. The NFF received them in PH, requested they go through customs and then proceed to fly to Uyo with same chatered airplane but for obvious reasons they opted for the road trip. The NFF is a govt and corporate organization and even if they had the money, it is very unlikely that the bureaucracy involved in approvals may not pass the right channels to approve in time for the NFF to incur the additional cost of the flight to Uyo from PH.

4) I have watched and followed Nigerian football for up-to three decades now and while I will never vouch for the competence of the NFF and the defunct NFA, Nigeria does not have a track record of maltreating their guests especially in the sporting world. There is another isolated case of the SA team spending some time in PH instead of landing in Uyo for a game recently. I do not have the information on this incidence and I believe the NFF can also up their game but my number one point above can help to resolve these issues.

5) The Libyans showed to the world that they are extremely vindictive and would even risk the lives of innocent footballers just to prove a cheap point for an inconsequential AFCON qualifiers that they are likely not even going to qualify for, even if they beat Nigeria. This is borderline wickedness and must be condemned by anyone who values humanity. They went too far this time. They could have lodged a formal complaint with CAF, do a little dark arts here and there and let the game go on but chose to be hostage takers for a mere football game!

oloriooko:
Bros these points you gave cannot justify the near death experience they put our national team thru. If you say 3hrs is not small what will you call 16hrs.
The airport security could have been easily overrun by the guerilla fighters if they had besieged that airport, Libya planned to eliminate our boys or kidnap them.
Even Nigeria envoy was stopped from attending to the boys citing security protocols. Bros the best decision NFF made was to evacuate immediately
Thank God we are saying these things the matter could have been bloody and involved lives

Hanibal:

Oga you shared zero insights
Just plain annoying assumptions

You a football analyst should know better, during a football match if an opponent pull my shirt and it escaped the attention of the referee, and because of that I decided to slap the opponent in retaliation, who get case? Who is getting red carded?

And please just stop with this devil's advocate you're playing. LFF refused to foot the cost of a flight that will make their team comfortable, but it is the Nigerians that should be blamed for not running kirakita enough to save the day as spiderman/father christmas wey dem be?

They should start commanding money out of nowhere?
Call Akwaibom state government and scream Emergency! Emergency! Then money will be released in less than 3hrs, who exactly should they have called? The commissioner for finance or the state governor? At such short notice... Do you know how many months in advance it takes to plan a match and get funds released, do you how many letters get written and the approval stages involved?

Please stop throwing the word "incompetence" around... When you have no idea what you're talking about!

Reach out to Rivers state FA to put together a reception team with under 3hrs notice... Those ones nor get their lives to live, there is zero probability that most of their officials will be outside of Portharcourt at the time or even already in Uyo for the match a day before, No! they're always on standby in portharcourt waiting for the next order abi? Even the army cannot get boots on ground that fast!

Baba just die this matter Abeg... This your reasoning dey vex person

semid4lyfe:
Debating Mr Bluefonts is an extreme sports.

He probably thinks that being contrarian and going against the grain equates to intelligence

TheGoodJoe:


Actually, from that interview, the NFF secured Uyo landing clearance after the information of their departure. He made a statement like they should have informed him of the challenges earlier.

However, after the clearance, they could not pay for the connecting flight. This is where the NFF needs to explain further why we could not assist with the flight or bus charter. Why did Libya have to pay that and ended up with a faulty bus.

eazyjakes:

The NFF actually made a contingency for a bus charter but the Libyans opted for a bus arrangement they(the Libyans) made on their own. They were also advised against doing the road trip at night considering the state of our roads and security but they insisted on making the trip. The NFF also provided security for them for the trip. The contingency to pay the additional costs for the flight to Uyo is a little more complicated as some of us have explained. There is always a room for improvements but the Libyans escalated these simple resolvable issues.

TheGoodJoe:


That is why I said we need clarification.

The NFF man said they offered Buses.

We need to know if the buses were going to be covered by us. If the bus charges were not going to be covered by us, then it might have been too expensive for them.

It does not make sense for the Libyans to reject cozy buses to go and higher low grade buses that had poor air conditioning.

semid4lyfe:
Debating Mr Bluefonts is an extreme sports.

He probably thinks that being contrarian and going against the grain equates to intelligence

Sugarboyy:

Please he is the most intelligent Nigerian.
Both Yusuf Tuggar, the NFF Chairman and Nigerians he doesn't like are incompetent

Odunayaw:
It seems you don't appraise how shitty this thing was. The delegation with the team included the NFF president and deputy governor of Edo state

semid4lyfe:
Debating Mr Bluefonts is an extreme sports.

He probably thinks that being contrarian and going against the grain equates to intelligence

JohnBullMySon:


Still doesn’t equate to a diplomatic incident. In geopolitics you thread carefully and don’t make stupid assumptions. The incident in Libya may have involved only the FA and not sanctioned by the highest levels of government herself.

Tuggar as I know is not a random political appointee but a career diplomat who has spent his civil service career with the foreign service. He knows better than all of you here. He did the right because his only job here is to direct the embassies to provide assistance. It is the NFF duty to escalate the matter to FIFA.

Y’all want him to damage international relations so that your emotions can be satisfied.

Amedino99:
The bluefont man has obviously never spent a day in a govt ministry that he thinks
1. The nff can just pay additional unexpected charter money as per father Christmas
2. Get the rivers state govt to immediately release funds in 3 hours because "we want to play a football match".
No where in the world is the host nation expected to foot the bills of the visiting nation but apparently he thinks nff should be an exception and just do whatever the Libyans desire despite them not communicating and disrupting travel plans even tho they have been to uyo in recent times. Let me do like the doctor and keep shut on this matter because he will obviously not see reason with it.

Hanibal:

Oga you shared zero insights
Just plain annoying assumptions

You a football analyst should know better, during a football match if an opponent pull my shirt and it escaped the attention of the referee, and because of that I decided to slap the opponent in retaliation, who get case? Who is getting red carded?

And please just stop with this devil's advocate you're playing. LFF refused to foot the cost of a flight that will make their team comfortable, but it is the Nigerians that should be blamed for not running kirakita enough to save the day as spiderman/father christmas wey dem be?

They should start commanding money out of nowhere?
Call Akwaibom state government and scream Emergency! Emergency! Then money will be released in less than 3hrs, who exactly should they have called? The commissioner for finance or the state governor? At such short notice... Do you know how many months in advance it takes to plan a match and get funds released, do you how many letters get written and the approval stages involved?

Please stop throwing the word "incompetence" around... When you have no idea what you're talking about!

Reach out to Rivers state FA to put together a reception team with under 3hrs notice... Those ones nor get their lives to live, there is zero probability that most of their officials will be outside of Portharcourt at the time or even already in Uyo for the match a day before, No! they're always on standby in portharcourt waiting for the next order abi? Even the army cannot get boots on ground that fast!

Baba just die this matter Abeg... This your reasoning dey vex person

JohnBullMySon:
Self interrogation and RCA are actually signs of intelligence. Average people usually won’t care about the details and just go with the flow. Smart people on the other hand like details cause they like to stand on fact and altruism.

If there was a contrarian here it would be komekn.

I am also not happy with the Libya incident but from facts available, it seems we did something similar but less severe, making them try to retaliate.

TheGoodJoe:


Actually, from that interview, the NFF secured Uyo landing clearance after the information of their departure. He made a statement like they should have informed him of the challenges earlier.

However, after the clearance, they could not pay for the connecting flight. This is where the NFF needs to explain further why we could not assist with the flight or bus charter. Why did Libya have to pay that and ended up with a faulty bus.

Hotepking:
At this point the only North African team I respect is Morocco, they don't play dirty like the typical North African team and do the talking on the pitch with their team which is arguably the best in Africa right now.. Egypt to some extent are decent but they play very dirty when they want to. But you see teams like Tunisia and Libya? God forbid we ever cross path with such teams in crucial tournaments.