The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has dismissed claims by Libya captain Faisal Al-Badri about Piotr treatment upon their arrival in Nigeria for Friday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, Afrosport reports.
Emmanuel Ayanbunmi, the NFF Assistant Director for Protocol, in a statement on the governing body’s website, stated that the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) had only informed the NFF of its intention to land in Port Harcourt rather than Uyo, where Friday’s fixture will take place, three hours prior to their arrival on Tuesday.
Ayanbunmi also revealed that the Libyan delegation opted to hire road transport themselves from Port Harcourt to Uyo with the NFF only providing escort security.
The NFF believes the LFF created chaos for themselves and are not moved by their complaints which is seen as a threat ahead of the Friday’s game.
“I spoke to the General Secretary of LFF, at length, on Monday, 7th October and he never hinted that his team would be arriving on Tuesday [the following day],” Ayanbunmi stated.
“He only said he would get back to me but he never did. On Monday evening, someone sent as an advance party by the LFF called me and said his team would be arriving on Tuesday by noon. We made all arrangements to receive the team in Uyo on arrival.
“It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt.
“Apparently, that would have meant additional cost to the LFF from the charter company, and they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road.”
Ayanbunmi added: “If they travelled on buses that were not air-conditioned, that had nothing to do with the NFF as they hired their own buses. We provided security for them, with men and vehicles in front and behind their buses, so we are unmoved about their complaints and threats.”
The Super Eagles top Group D of the AFCON 2025 qualifiers while Libya are bottom with a solitary point.
