AFCON Qualifier: FA President's resignation piles more pressure on Libya

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More pressure is piling up on the Mediterranean Knights of Libya with the resignation of the country’s Football Federation president, Abdulhakim Alshelmani.

Abdulhakim Alshelmani resigned as the president of the country’s Football Association on Sunday over the simmering impasse between Nigeria and Libya regarding the diversion from Benghazi airport and subsequent land of the Super Eagles players at the Al Abraq International Airport.

Indeed, their plane was diverted about three hours away from Benghazi, the venue of the Tuesday match against Libya.

The Super Eagles and team officials’ woes were compounded as they waited for over 12 hours at Al Abraq International Airport.

After the plane landed, the Nigerian team was also left stranded without assistance from the Libyan Football Federation for over 12 hours.

The host team also failed make arrangement to take the team to Benghazi while the vehicle arranged for the trip by the officials of Super Eagles was also not allowed to access the airport.

However, with the resignation of their FA president after suffering a lone-goal defeat to Nigeria on day 3 of the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifier, the North Africans’ challenges are compounded as Super Eagles are on their way back to he country after their maltreatment by their opponents in Tuesday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier that could not hold.

Libya football experienced a turbulent time during the FA president’s tenure as they struggled to perform both at the club and national team levels.

Libya will host Nigeria at the Benina Stadium on Tuesday and another defeat means they are out of the 2025 AFCON competition.