Dons Eze
AFCON: CAF AWARDS NIGERIA 3 GOALS, 3 POINTS; FINES LIBYA $50,000
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has awarded Nigeria a 3-0 win and full three points in the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Libya.
The governing body announced the verdict in a statement on Saturday.
The Super Eagles faced significant challenges, including a redirected flight, over 18 hours of delays, and logistical issue during a trip for return leg of the 1-0 match in favour of Nigeria in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
A statement by CAF Disciplinary Board in its ruling on Saturday, signed by the chairman, Ousmane Kane, said the Disciplinary Board ruled met and decided as follows:
“The Libya Football Federation is found to have breached Article 31 of the Africa Cup of Nations Regulations as well as Articles 82 and 151 of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
“The match No. 87 Libya v. Nigeria of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers 2025 (scheduled to be played on 15 October in Benghazi) declared lost by forfeit by Libya (by a score of 3-0).
“The Libya Football Federation is ordered to pay a fine of USD 50,000. The fine is to be paid within 60 days of notification of the present decision. All other and further motions or prayers for relief are dismissed,” the statement said.
The implication is that Nigeria is now poised to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, with two matches to spare.
The Eagles now have 10 points from four matches, four points better than second-placed Benin Republic, while Rwanda have five points.
Bottom-placed Libya have only one point and are out of the running for qualification.
After the 46th Ordinary General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, had vowed that appropriate action would be taken on the issue.
During his address, Motsepe who refrained from any detailed explanation on the incident, said CAF would no longer tolerate such instances across the continent.
But he assured that “the process had been properly investigated and appropriate action would be taken”.
