CAF awards Super Eagles three points, three goals, USD 50,000 fine for Libya Game

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded three points, and three goals to Nigeria for the bulged Libya game.

The development comes after the CAF president, Patrice Motsepe, said a thorough probe was ongoing following the recent controversy surrounding Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya.

Motsepe had maintained that the continental body would not tolerate any lack of sportsmanship and unfair treatment in African football.

CAF said the disciplinary board decided that, “The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the African, Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, and that the match No.87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF African Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October 2024 in Benghazi) is declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).”

Following the conclusion of the board’s findings, CAF also ordered the Libya Football Federation to pay a fine of USD 50,000 within 60 days of notification of the present decision.

A statement signed by CAF’s Chairperson of CAF Disciplinary Board, Ousmane Kane on Saturday in the latest development said the decision to award Nigeria the points was taken after findings by the disciplinary committee, found Libya guilty of the inhumane treatment meted out to the Nigerian senior men’s football team Super Eagles.

The Disciplinary Board of the Confederation of African Football also fined the Libyan Football Federation for the Super Eagles’ ordeal.

The 5-man disciplinary committee consist of: Mr. Ousmane Kane (Senegal) Chairperson, Ms. Njeri Onyango (Kenya) Vice-Chairperson, Mr. Felix Golbassia (Tchad) Member, Mr. Patrick Shale (Lesotho) Member, and Mr. Norman Arendse (South Africa) Member.

Recall the players and officials were stranded for hours at a Libyan airport and denied access to food and the internet as they prepared to honour their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier with the Mediterranean Knights.

It took diplomatic efforts and social media callouts for the team to be cleared to finally leave Libya.

Leveraging on this CAF decision, with two matches left, Nigeria is now in a better stead to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, December 2025/January 2026.

The Eagles are now on 10 points from four matches, four points ahead of second-placed Benin Republic, while Rwanda have five points. Bottom-placed Libya have only one point and are out of contention for qualification from the group.

Match five day encounter on Thursday, 14 November between Super Eagles and Cheetahs of Benin Republic in Abidjan,victory or draw, will fetch the Super Eagles a ticket to the finals in Morocco.