THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) is reviewing its regulations and enforcing stricter measures to address concerns about the treatment of visiting teams in African football.
This move followed recent controversy surrounding Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Libya, where the Nigerian national team was mistreated during its trip to Libya.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe, speaking during a press conference after the 46th Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, acknowledged the situation but refrained from commenting directly.
He did, however, stated that the the incident has been investigated and appropriate action would be taken.
“I will not comment on that, because there’s a proper investigation. But I want to emphasise a principle that we will not tolerate, because this is something that has been going on for quite some time,” he said.
Motsepe maintained that such incidents had been recurring in African football, where visiting teams, both national and club sides, had often faced challenges, including long delays at airports and other forms of poor treatment.
“Too many stories have been told of national teams or football clubs going to a country, and they spend hours at the airport, being asked about documents that don’t exist,” he noted.
He further emphasised the need for better sportsmanship and fair treatment across the continent.
He stressed that CAF would not tolerate any lack of sportsmanship, which he described as a long-standing issue in African football.
“I just want to repeat, we are proud of those nations that treat visiting national teams and football clubs with the respect and dignity they deserve,” Motsepe said.
The CAF President further noted that the confederation was reviewing its regulations to prevent similar incidents in the future, adding that “If there are violations of those regulations and rules, we will take action.”
He submitted that fairness and respect must be upheld in all competitions.
The ICIR reported that the Nigerian senior men’s football team, Super Eagles, boycotted its Africa Cup of Nations second-leg match with Libya.
The Super Eagles 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.
The ICIR reported 20 key issues the team, its officials, supporters, and top government functionaries that accompanied the team on the flight faced while the impasse lasted.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M