Wilfred Ndidi and Nigeria set to boycott game as Leicester City man labels incident a 'disgrace'
Wilfred Ndidi and Nigeria look set to boycott their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Libya after claims the squad were left stranded in an airport for more than 12 hours.
Leicester City midfielder Ndidi described the incident as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace” after the Super Eagles’ flight to Libya was diverted, leaving them in what captain William Troost-Ekong described as an “abandoned” airport. There, the skipper claims the team were left without food, water or a phone connection for half a day.
Troost-Ekong said the players had collectively decided they would not play the match, which had been scheduled for Tuesday night. Since then, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) have released a statement in which they said they were “making plans to fly the team back home”. There's been no statement from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) yet.
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The NFF said the delegation had been due to land in Benghazi but were diverted to a smaller airport, Al Abraq, and that the Libyan Football Federation did not send any vehicles to take them to their hotel, which was now a three-hour drive away. Troost-Ekong said the airport gates were locked, leaving the Nigeria squad stranded, and claiming the whole incident was “to play mind games”.
The former Watford defender added on social media: “As the captain together with the team we have decided that we will NOT play this game. CAF should look at the report and what is happening here.
“Even if they decide to allow this kind of behaviour, let them have the points. We respect ourselves and respect our opponents when they are our guests in Nigeria. Mistakes happen but these things on purpose have nothing to do with international football.”
Prior to Nigeria travelling, there had been accusations from members of the Libya team that their own travel plans had been messed with ahead of the reverse fixture last Friday, won 1-0 by the Super Eagles. An NFF spokesperson denied that.
Ndidi played 74 minutes of last Friday's game and would have been expected to start on Tuesday evening. He will also likely be in the City line-up at Southampton on Saturday as one of six players who have started every Premier League match under Steve Cooper, alongside Mads Hermansen, James Justin, Wout Faes, Victor Kristiansen and Jamie Vardy.