Afrigather 
Libya’s heat welcome to Ghana’s Black Stars in distinction to Nigeria’s Tremendous Eagles has raised eyebrows forward of the essential AFCON 2025 qualifiers, Soccernet.ng reviews.
Each Ghana and Nigeria are set to play their matchday 4 fixtures on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, in Libya, however the therapy of the 2 groups couldn’t be extra totally different.
Whereas Ghana’s Black Stars landed with out challenge in Benghazi, the place they’re set to face Sudan on the Martyrs of February Stadium, Nigeria’s Tremendous Eagles encountered sudden difficulties. Sudan, unable to play at residence as a consequence of ongoing civil warfare, has adopted Libya’s Benghazi as their short-term base.
The Nigerian squad, initially scheduled to land in Benghazi for his or her match in opposition to hosts Libya, noticed their flight diverted to an airport 240 kilometres away.
In response to Nigerian staff spokesman Promise Efoghe, the aircraft was rerouted simply an hour earlier than touchdown, resulting in confusion and an anticipated two-hour drive from Al Abraq Airport to Benghazi.
“About an hour to touchdown, the Nigerian plane approaching Benghazi was diverted to a different metropolis greater than a two-hour drive from the unique vacation spot,” Efoghe stated.
Libyan authorities had been unavailable for touch upon the sudden diversion.
Nonetheless, native media cited a “technical failure within the airport system” as the rationale for the diversion that took the Nigerian delegation to Al Abraq Airport the place the staff has been stranded for over 12 hours.
Unusually, this supposed technical challenge didn’t have an effect on Ghana or Sudan, each of whom landed in Benghazi with out incident and had been swiftly processed via immigration.
🛬 Landing in Libya for the AFCON qualifier in opposition to Sudan! #BlackStars | #AFCONQ2025 pic.twitter.com/eiwvfshIGl
— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) October 13, 2024
In response to the therapy, the Nigeria Soccer Federation has determined to drag the Tremendous Eagles from the scheduled match in opposition to Libya, stating the staff will go away Libya with out taking part in the fixture.
The match between Ghana and Sudan stays on schedule, because the Black Stars put together for his or her showdown at 2 p.m., whereas Nigeria was anticipated to face Libya at 8 p.m. on the identical venue.
Nonetheless, it now seems the Tremendous Eagles won’t take the sphere in Libya after the unsettling ordeal.
