Shock 'This is kidnapping!' Star players detained at airport"I locked them up in abandoned gates"+"Now it's really scary"→Postimulated after escaping
Oct 15, 2024
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Britain's The Sun reported on the 14th (Korea time) that the Nigerian star complained that the national team was taken hostage at an abandoned airport.
After winning 1-0 in the third round of the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya in Nigeria on the 12th, the Nigerian national team was scheduled to play the fourth round of the African Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya on the 16th.
But the game couldn't go ahead. This is because Libya detained the Nigerian team at a remote airport and prevented them from preparing for the game.
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When the players entered the airport, Libya locked them inside the airport gate, and the Nigerian players had to spend a long time sitting in empty terminal chairs. Each of the players who experienced difficulties delivered a shocking situation through their personal SNS.
Victor Boniface, a Leverkusen striker, said on social media "Now I'm scared. We want to go back to Nigeria," he said, adding that the situation was unusual. Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi "This is not football. I'm very embarrassed, and I've taken the national team hostage." The Nigerian captain, Willingham Trust Ekong, was abandoned for more than 12 hours at the airport. Locked the airport gate, left us alone with no phone, food or drink. It was all for a war of nerves" he noted.
Fortunately, the detention of the airport did not last more than 24 hours. After the players' SNS activities, Libya mobilized a minibus to move the players to a hotel and later opened the airport in the morning. The Nigerian players were not able to leave until the next day. However, the place where the Nigerian players flew was not Libya, but Nigeria. Nigerian players returned home instead of proceeding with the game, and the game was postponed.
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Truist Ekong has further described the situation since he left Libya and returned to Nigeria. He added "It is shameful that this happened on the expedition to Africa. After arriving, we were also denied to go to a nearby hotel. I had to sleep there. We asked the Nigerian government to save us. My team and I have decided not to play, and the African Football Federation has to take a closer look at what happened. You have to give them a penalty. Mistakes can happen, but this deliberate thing has nothing to do with football," he said, drawing criticism.
Due to Libya, which was divided by the administration over the civil war, Nigerian players spent the night at the airport and even the game was canceled. Fortunately, some of the problems were resolved by the players' safe return home, but it is not certain how the Nigerian players, who will have to leave Libya again in the future, will react.
digh1229@sportschosun.com
