SUPER Eagles stand-in captain William Troost-Ekong has hailed the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) for its verdict over the botched Libya vs Nigeria game.
CAF awarded three points and goals to Nigeria and fined the Libya Football Federation (LFF) $50,000 over the abandoned 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier.
Following the verdict, Troost-Ekong described the move as justice served.
“JUSTICE: CAF awards three points and three goals to Nigeria. Libya fined $50,000,” Troost-Ekong said.
“Plane was diverted 300km from scheduled airport even when the pilot told them he was low on fuel. One step closer to our target AFCON 2025.”
The Super Eagles had refused to play the game in Benghazi on October 15, citing ill-treatment by the Libyan authorities.
Players and officials of the three-time African country were stranded at an airport for over 16 hours. The facility was about 250km away from their destination following the diversion of their flight.
The team was supposed to land in Benghazi but instead redirected to Bayda. Nigeria had no access to food or water and had no contact with the Libyan officials during the incident, prompting condemnation from the football fraternity globally.
That prompted the Super Eagles crew to fly back to Nigeria instead of honouring the game.
Following the development, the Libyan authorities said the action was not deliberate and equally claimed their team faced similar treatment in the first leg of the match four days earlier in Nigeria.
But after a CAF probe, Libya were found guilty of breaching competition rules which mandates visiting teams to be rightly received by their host association.
With the verdict, the Super Eagles are now on 10 points from four games in the AFCON qualifiers, four more ahead of Benin Republic in second position.
They need a point from their last two games – at home against Rwanda and away to Benin Republic – to seal their ticket to the continental showpiece.