Relief. Finally.
We’re back in Aba, and our Super Eagles have finally returned from their “frozen chicken” treatment in Libya. While our trip home was uneventful, the Super Eagles endured a nightmarish 24 hours—a classic North African move, it seems. Retaliation? That’s what they claim. But one thing’s clear: this kind of nonsense is all too familiar.
Pretty sure you heard, if you haven’t, have you been living under a rock? The Super Eagles had flown to Libya for the second leg of their double header AFCON Qualifier and were rerouted to another Airport. Well, they were abandoned there no thanks to the bureaucratic hurdles already in place. Long story short, for another 12 hours, they remained stuck there without food, water and internet.
As the incident started gathering steam, previous accounts of Libya’s football culture began to surface. Enyimba abandoned at the airport and Rivers United being made to train at night without the stadium floodlights. Antics that have become quite unique to not just Libya but to most of the North African teams. Antics that have so become common place, it is now almost expected.
But these things are not supposed to be common place. They shouldn’t be seen as normal because they aren’t. In the traditional human communities. It is normal and common place to be kind to strangers. Trying to gain undue advantage by weakening or downing the moral/spirits of the opposition should be exclusive to what happens on the stands and the pitch and not leaving them stranded at the airports.
We’ve got two trips to Egypt lined up this season (thank goodness it’s not Libya), but any journey to North Africa feels like stepping into a hornet’s nest. Libya, of course, takes the cake as the chief provocateur. Enyimba, Rivers United, and now our national team, have all faced their brand of chaos. Unless we take a stand, the cycle will continue.
The memory of that disastrous Libyan game during Anyansi-Agwu’s last season still stings. We didn’t lose a single match that season in the continent, only to have it all crumble thanks to a W/O, after being left stranded in Morocco for hours. Worse off, CAF did nothing to curb and address this.
Now, as frustrating as this situation is, I’m oddly grateful it happened a month before our trip north. The NFF and the Federal Government need to pressure CAF now to ensure this nonsense ends, for the sake of every Nigerian team. We’ve always been hospitable to visitors, but what do we get in return? Pure hostility.
CAF must use this as an opportunity to save African football from these dirty tactics. Their decision could either restore respect to the game or bury hope for change once and for all.
As we wait for CAF’s disciplinary ruling, one thing’s for sure: these Stone Age antics need to be tossed out, so football can move forward.
Meanwhile, Tornadoes are coming on Wednesday, and we know what needs to be done. More on that tomorrow.
Take it easy,
EnyimbaEnyi!
