The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has set plan to motion after it announced it was investigating the controversy surrounding the Nigeria-Libya match in the AFCON qualifying rounds.
Through its President, Patrice Motsepe, the Africa’s football governing body has said that a proper investigation is ongoing following the ill-mannered sportmanship treatment given to the Super Eagles players in the abandoned airport in Libya.
Motsepe has emphasised that the confederation will not tolerate any lack of sportsmanship in African football.
During a press conference on Tuesday after the 46th Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the President spoke to the difficult conditions the Nigerian national team were faced during their trip to Libya, raising major concerns about players safety and fair treatment in football media.
Without commenting directly on the Nigeria-Libya situation, Motsepe noted that the incident is under investigation.
His statement: “It’s because when there was this problem with the Nigerian national team in Libya, and 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.”
“Your national team, let me emphasise, forget about the Nigeria and Libya situation, because that process has been properly investigated, and appropriate action will be taken”, he said.
He further highlighted that such issues have been recurring in African football, where visiting teams are sometimes treated poorly.
“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,” Motsepe said.
During his remarks, the CAF President emphasised the importance of treating visiting teams with respect and dignity, pointing to the principle of fairness in competition.
“But it’s this lack of sportsmanship that has existed and we haven’t taken effective action, but 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,” he added.
Motsepe also stressed that CAF is reviewing its regulations and will enforce stricter measures to ensure that incidents like the one involving Nigeria in Libya do not recrur.
“If there are violations of those regulations and those rules, we will take action,” he said, adding that sportsmanship remains a core value in African football.
