THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded all three points to Nigeria Super Eagles in the abandoned Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match against Libya.
The CAF Disciplinary Board also awarded three goals to Nigeria from the botched match.
The decision to award the points and goals followed CAF’s investigation into what transpired in the October 15 Africa Cup of Nations second leg abandoned match in Benghazi, Libya.
Nigerian Super Eagles abandoned the match following mistreatment by the host country.
The Libyan authorities left the Super Eagles, supporters and staff stranded at its airport for almost a day.
In its decision, released in a statement on its website on Saturday, October, 26, CAF declared that the Libya Football Federation violated Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, in addition to Article 31 of the African Cup of Nations Regulations.
It therefore ordered the Libya Football Federation to pay a fine of USD 50,000.
According to the body, the fine is to be paid within 60 days of the decision.
The CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, had declared that the continental body would not tolerate unjust treatment or lack of sportsmanship in African football.
Nigeria now has ten points after four games following the verdict.
The ICIR reported that the Super Eagles boycotted the reverse match.
The team had defeated the Libyan Mediterranean Knights 1:0 at the Uyo Stadium on Friday, October 11, and hoped to be victorious again in the oil-rich North African nation the following Tuesday.
However, the team’s ordeal began on Sunday, October 13, when its flight was unexpectedly diverted to a different airport, away from Benghazi, where it was supposed to play a reverse match, causing the Super Eagles to be stranded for hours.
Images of the team circulated by the team’s captain Williams Troos-Ekong, showed players lying on airport benches, visibly fatigued, as they waited for the crisis to be resolved.
Moving from the Al Abraq Airport would make the team travel by road for three hours before reaching Benghazi.
The team eventually returned home after abandoning the match.
A reporter with the ICIR
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