₦airaland Forum

Libya continues to play hide and seek with increasingly frustrated Bafana Bafana

21 February 2019 - 14:06
By Marc Strydom

As expected‚ Libya have delayed announcing the venue – Tunisia or Egypt – for their must-win final 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Bafana Bafana until the very last day on Friday.

The SA Football Association (Safa) have been frustrated in their efforts to prepare early logistically in terms of travel‚ a hotel and training facilities for the qualifier on the weekend of March 22 to 24‚ where Bafana need a draw to reach Egypt 2019.

The match will be played at one of neighbouring Egypt or Tunisia because of a Fifa ban on playing in Libya due to the insecure security situation in the country.

And in a move that smacks of gamesmanship by the Libyans they have still not revealed the venue to Safa as Friday’s deadline approaches.

“No‚ no we are still waiting. Of course‚ Libya cannot play in Libya because of the unstable conditions‚” Safa president Danny Jordaan said on Wednesday.

“They always had a choice either to play in Tunisia or to play in Egypt. And they have not told us.”

Jordaan would not be drawn on whether he felt this was down to gamesmanship by the Libyans.

“Well‚ for us‚ we should concentrate on getting our team together and winning this match.

"The fortunate part is that most of our players who have had long-term injuries are back‚” the president said.

Safa had intended to send Bafana team manager Barney Kujane on a fact-finding mission to establish a suitable hotel‚ training facility and travel arrangements for the match well ahead of time at the beginning of this month‚ but were not able to.

Libya have played their two home games in Group E in Cairo‚ Egypt and Sfax‚ Tunisia.

Nigeria have qualified for Afcon 2019 as Group E leaders with 10 points‚ with Seychelles left to play at home.

South Africa are on nine points‚ and Libya seven. Bafana need a draw to qualify‚ and Libya a win.

The Afcon finals will be held in Egypt in June and July. Original hosts Cameroon were stripped of the competition over readiness issues.

CAF’s cross

October 19, 2024 by Ade Ojeikere

Not many pundits are expecting anything significant from the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) when the Africa soccer ruling body meets to decide on the hostage-taking of the Nigerian contingent who ought to have played the return leg of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations against Libya in Benghazi on Tuesday. Not with the overwhelming evidence against the Libyans. In fact, CAF must carry its cross in this matter for approving a war-torn country to host its premium competition – the Africa Cup of Nations. This decision defies all logic. I digress!

Pundits have hinged their reservations on previous incidents involving North African teams. Nigeria’s flag bearer to one of CAF’s inter-club competitions Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt saw hell in Libya in 2022. Yes, Libya. In fact, in Benghazi.

According to a report by sportration.com, in a story titled: ‘Black night for African football as Rivers United FC are attacked in Libya’: ”Rivers United FC reported on arrival at the Benghazi airport for the second leg of their CAF Confederation Cup playoff round fixtures against Al Nasr in Benghazi on Wednesday 9, 2022, there were no police escorts nor were there security personnel to usher the visiting team into the city. So, Rivers United had to make do with their well-thought-out arrangement beforehand.

”Not even a provision for transportation was made by the hosts, Al Nasr Benghazi as the Nigerians were told in clear terms that they would have to pay for the luxury being provided by their hosts.

‘’The antics reached a crescendo when Rivers United’s privately arranged training session at a secret facility on Monday, October 31, was disrupted after the managers of the facility were intimidated by irate Al Nasr fans to switch off the floodlights at the facility and attacked the team with bottles and stones.”

Rivers United held a healthy 5-0 advantage from the first leg in Port Harcourt played November 2, 2022.

Back to the show of shame in Libya at the Al Abraq Airport, the Tunisian air officer who piloted the Value Jet aircraft from Kano described what happened whilst he was airborne as hostage-taking adding that: “The flight plan was to land in Benghazi as our destination and we got the approval from the Libyan authorities to land there, but unfortunately when we were at a close distance, we were told to divert to another airport which was about 300km away from our destination.

”It was far and towards the east and not a part of our coordinates. It is something that’s not good because, in aviation, we have our flight plan and calculate the amount of fuel that’ll take us through so we have to avoid issues like this because it could hamper our safety.

”When we were about to land in Benghazi, they told us no, citing it was an order from the highest authority in aviation, we cannot hide anything. I asked them at least eight times but they repeated the same thing, saying we cannot land there. Thank God we made it safely and we landed safely. We have all the evidence and they’re well documented,” the Tunisian aeronaut explained.

What is clear from the scenario created by the pilot is that we had a potential air crash in our hands, God forbid, if the pilot wasn’t an experienced one. What manner of hospitality would we have had, if the truth must be told? What plausible reason would the Libyans have advanced to convince people that what they did by diverting the aircraft from its original plan to the rustic Al Abraq Airport without landing instruments was in good faith?

The basic rule for hosts in soccer competitions starts before, during, and after the game. So, if Libyans could endanger the Nigerian contingent’s lives with their doublespeak to the pilot, is anyone surprised that these wicked souls allowed distinguished Nigerians to sleep in the mosquito-infested lounge? The Libyans didn’t want the game to hold by keeping the Nigerians hostage for 20 hours whilst subjecting them to a despicable setting and inhuman surroundings on empty stomachs with no food to eat nor water to quench their thirst.

As if to justify their acts of wickedness, the Libyans have released videos of what happened at the Port Harcourt Airport as if their captain didn’t apologise for such a disinformation prelude to the game which they lost. It is important to remind the Libyans that arriving in Port Harcourt instead of Uyo isn’t any big deal or an infraction of the rules. Uyo isn’t an international airport. Port Harcourt is. The Libyans are cheaply holding onto a straw with this excuse. After all, we provided the security architecture that took them to Uyo from the Garden City.

The needless media propaganda that the Libyans embraced in social media amounted to an afterthought having read the global condemnation of their atrocious acts. Football, like other sports, unites nations not otherwise. After all, they refused the Nigerian contingent into their country when they sought to enter to make their private bookings. Come to think of it, people who didn’t want the Nigerian contingent to use the Benghazi Airport were almost insisting that the team must pass through the Benghazi Airport to exit. But Nigeria refused to pass through that route. They returned to Nigeria through the Al Abaq Airport arrival route. It was obvious that they had sinister motives in everything they did.

Indeed, sports lawyer and Enugu Rangers International FC’s General Manager, Barrister Amobi Ezeaku, wrote in Wednesday’s edition of Sportinglife that: ”The Regulations are in place to accord protection to the rights of visiting teams, ensuring that they can travel, enter, and compete without facing unnecessary barriers.

”The lack of support from the Libyan Football Federation constitutes a violation of these regulatory standards, which are meant to foster a conducive environment for international matches.

”The repercussions of this oversight extend beyond mere logistics; they impact the reputation of both the Super Eagles and Nigerian football (I am sure you saw all the pictures trending online. Pictures of our top stars sleeping at the airport, stranded for long hours). There is an urgent need for CAF to uphold the regulations and ensure that all member associations adhere to their commitments,” Amobi Ezeaku wrote.

It must be stated here as captured by Ezeaku, ” More troubles could be in the coffers for the Libyan Football Federation because: ‘The host association that does not provide to the visiting team and the designated match officials all the facilities mentioned in the present regulations, shall reimburse all the expenses without prejudice to the sanctions that the Organizing Committee may impose upon it subsequently’.”

CAF has assembled a disciplinary committee to address the incident, which includes members such as Jane Njeri Onyango of Kenya (Vice-President); South Africa’s Norman Arendse, Mohamed Mostafa El-mashta of Egypt, and other representatives from Chad, Lesotho, Niger, Uganda, and Sierra Leone.

Interestingly, Nigeria’s own Justice Roli Daibo Harriman serves as the president of CAF’s Appeal Board, with Cape Verde’s Faustino Varela Monteiro as vice president.

CAF issued a statement on Monday, condemning the situation and vowing to hold accountable those responsible for the mistreatment of the Nigerian team.

“CAF views the disturbing and unacceptable experiences of the Nigerian National Football Team (Super Eagles) at an airport in Libya in a severe light,” the statement read.

Caf Confederation Cup: Al Ittihad vs Enyimba game postponed

Taiye Taiwo
28 Nov 2021

The Nigerian giants will have to wait for a later date to face the Libyan club after they were restricted from entering Tunisia

Enyimba have announced the postponement of their Caf Confederation Cup play-off fixture against Al Ittihad after they were denied access into Tunisia due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Nigeria Professional Football League club disclosed on Saturday that they were not allowed to enter Monastir, a day before the crucial first-leg fixture.

Finidi George’s men now need to wait for an urgent conclusion from Caf’s Interclub Committee for the new venue of the match as the second-leg outing will go ahead as planned in Nigeria on December 5.

“The Confederation of African Football has postponed the Confederation Cup playoff first leg fixture between Al Ittihad and Enyimba FC,” read a statement on Enyimba’s website.

“The fixture was initially scheduled for Sunday, November 28 at the Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet in Monastir, Tunisia; but Enyimba were denied access to Tunisia as a result of strict Covid-19 travel restrictions in the country.

“Consequently, Caf, through a correspondence have announced their decision to choose a new date and venue for the fixture.

“The match will not take place tomorrow, the 28th of November 2021, as scheduled and will be postponed.

“The new venue and date of the match will be announced soon after consultation with Caf Interclub Committee.

“Kindly note that the return leg will be played as scheduled on the 5th of December in Nigeria.”

The Peoples' Elephants advanced to the play-off round after defeating Senegal's Diambars FC 4-0 on aggregate in the second round of qualification in October.

They are the second Nigerian club in the play-offs, with Rivers United scheduled to play Egypt's Al Masry for their first-leg in Port Harcourt on Sunday.

Both teams are seeking to qualify for the group stage of the Confederation Cup that will commence in 2022.

Meanwhile, the 2021-22 NPFL season will begin on December 17 with Enyimba scheduled to host city rivals Abia Warriors in Aba while champions Akwa United will face Kano Pillars that same day in Uyo.

CAF CL: ‘Al-Ahly fans attacked me in Libya’ — Enyimba goalkeeper Ojo talks tough ahead of second leg

by Jonathan Ledger
August 26, 2023

Olorunleke Ojo, the captain and goalkeeper of Enyimba FC, says fans of Al-Ahly Benghazi “hurled firecrackers and bottled water” at him during their CAF Champions League (CAFCL) encounter in Libya.

Enyimba lost 4-3 to the Libyan outfit in the first leg of their preliminary tie last weekend.

In a chat with TheCable, Ojo said the Nigerian club suffered “intimidation” at the hands of Al-Ahly Benghazi fans.

The Super Eagles invitee also blamed stress and fatigue for the team’s uncharacteristic defensive performance against Benghazi.

“I must tell you the truth, we saw a lot in Libya,” he said. “Personally I went through a lot; fans threw firecrackers and bottled water as missiles in my direction during the match.

“Both goalposts were close to where their fans were camped and it was not really easy. Despite the intimidation and other stuff directed at me from the stands, I was able to pull myself together and stand firm.”

The NPFL winner, however, said the team will use the experience as a springboard to victory in the second leg.

Ojo also appealed to fans to recreate the deafening atmosphere — the same way Al-Ahly Benghazi supporters did in Libya — to inspire Enyimba to victory in Aba.

“If we can get one-third of the support from spectators and our fans [on Sunday] the same way [Al-Ahly Benghazi fans] gave their players in Libya, there is no way they will escape defeat here,” he said.

“We saw the support their people gave to them and contributed to their performance. There is nowhere in the world that kind of support is given and you will not give your all, you will not want to disappoint your fans and the people.”

Ojo said the team’s mood is positive, adding that the “Chijioke Mboama-led attack will be on a goal-scoring spree”.

“The mood has been okay, we have put the result behind us and everybody is in a good state of mind, feeling no pressure and ready to go again in the second leg, including our attack. They had a good game in Libya and I pray they carry the same form to the game on Sunday, individually and as a team,” he said.

“We will try to score as many goals as possible; I am looking beyond three goals, we will not stop scoring when we get the first goal.”

Enyimba, two-time CAF Champions League winners, will face Al-Ahly Benghazi in Aba on Sunday.

Nigerian club, Rivers United stated that their lives were threatened in Libya ahead of a game in 2022.

They said Libyan club, Al Nasr stormed their training facility, chanted war songs, threw stones at them and followed them to their hotel.

They were forced to train in the dark, after the stadium lights were turned off.

Nigerian club, Enyimba Players were stranded at an airport in Libya for 24 hours when the venue was changed without communication in 2022.

They were to face Libyan club, Al Ittihad.

Nigeria's Super Eagles were stranded at an airport in Libya without food and water for a whole day.

Nigeria pulled out of their AFCON qualifier against Libya.

Libyan fans said that their clubs and national team were also treated badly in Nigeria.

pleasureosondu:
Rivers United arranged a private training in Libya but Al Nasr Benghazi officials still forced the private operators to turn off the stadium light.

Rivers United leads 5-0 from first leg.

https://twitter.com/PoojaMedia/status/1589721510520172544?t=PhBYWJa-L7_ZcalqaXyVwA&s=19[/quote]https://www.nairaland.com/7422630/rivers-united-forced-train-dark

President Tinubu meets old friend and political opponent Atiku Abubakar at the National Mosque.

It was at the Jumat and wedding of the daughter of Senator Danjuma Goje. Photo Taiwo Okanlawon

Earlier today, I attended the wedding Fatiha of the daughter of former Governor of Gombe State, Sen. Danjuma Goje, at the National Mosque in Abuja. May Allah bless the marriage of the couple. -AA

haybhi1:
News about this Concorde no dey tire una mods? Naptu don tok sotey...

MrSly:
Keep talking rubbish. Pride goes before a fall.

MrSly:
You can keep wallowing in your abject ignorance or choose to be humble enough to learn. The two choices are open and you can only choose one.

naptu2:
1) What list?

2) I very much doubt that you have the mental capacity to understand my "insinuation", but tell me what you have been able to produce from your brain, let me see if I can educate you.

(My point is actually written explicitly in the article, but I very much doubt that this guy can understand it)

TechCapon:
you're no longer a moderator?

Justice Department warns Elon Musk that his $1 million giveaway to registered voters may be illegal

By Evan Perez, Hannah Rabinowitz and Marshall Cohen, CNN

The Justice Department warned Elon Musk’s America PAC in recent days that his $1 million sweepstakes to registered voters in swing states may violate federal law, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Musk, who has thrown his support behind former President Donald Trump and is spending millions of dollars supporting his candidacy, has publicized the $1 million prize by his political action committee aiming to increase voter registrations in hotly contested states.

Musk’s initial promise to pay prizes to registered voters immediately raised concerns from election law experts and some state officials who questioned whether it ran afoul of the law.

Federal law bars paying people to register to vote. The language of the petition currently promises $1 million prizes to people chosen at random for signing a petition in support of First and Second Amendment freedoms. But to sign the petition, you must be registered to vote in specific states.

A letter from the Justice Department’s public integrity section, which investigates potential election-related law violations, went to Musk’s political action committee, according to people briefed on the matter.

CNN has reached out seeking comment from Musk, several email addresses listed on the super PAC’s website, the group’s treasurer, and Musk’s press team at the X platform.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

“We want to try to get over a million, maybe 2 million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition in support of the First and Second Amendment,” Musk said in announcing the sweepstakes at a Trump campaign event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election.”

After Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, said Sunday that the giveaway was “deeply concerning” and deserved legal scrutiny, Musk posted on his X platform that it was “concerning that he would say such a thing.”

In response to a post claiming Musk was “paying to register Republicans,” Musk said winners “can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote.” He did not address the potential legal problem of only opening the lottery to registered voters.

On Sunday, the second day of the sweepstakes, the super PAC reframed its messaging around the giveaway, describing the money as payment for a job. In social media posts, the group said winners would be “selected to earn $1M as a spokesperson for America PAC” – and subsequently posted pro-Trump testimonial videos featuring the winners.

However, several election law experts who spoke to CNN pointed out that the fine print on Musk’s super PAC website explaining the official terms of entry did not change. Only petition signers can win the $1 million prize, and signers “must be registered voters of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.”

It’s not clear when Musk received the Justice Department’s letter and whether it prompted changes to messaging around the giveaway.

PRESS RELEASE - No Deadline On Circulation of Old Series of Naira Banknotes.