Despite boycotting the AFCON 2025 qualifiers game away to Libya, the senior national team of Nigeria moved three places in the latest rankings released by world football governing body FIFA, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Super Eagles defeated Libya 1-0 in Uyo but had to abandon the away game against Libya after they were left unattended to for over 16 hours at the airport upon arrival without food and water. They also survived a plane crash when their flight was inexplicably diverted to another airport 300km away from the city of the game.

The abandoned game still didn’t affect their rankings as they are now 36th in the world and number four in Africa behind Morocco, Senegal and Egypt respectively as released by FIFA a few minute ago.

Meanwhile the disciplinary committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has listened to the submission of both countries after the decision to suspend the game. At the hearing former president of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and FIFA executive committee member Amaju Pinnick represented Nigeria.

Pinnick was clear in his submission that the General secretary of Libya Football Federation (LFF) Nasser Al-Suwaie went against the principle of fair play by switching off his phone after making three separate promises that he was on his way to meet the team at the airport.

Libya were represented by represented by Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani, a CAF Executive member and former president of the Libya Football Federation, he argued that their actions was in retaliation to the treatment they suffered in Nigeria when they came for the first game of the back to the back tie.

A claim which has long been dismissed as false, because their chartered aircraft landed in Port Harcourt instead of Uyo , and when the NFF secured a landing permit for them in Uyo they declined it on the ground of the cost implications.

It was also established that they decided to embark on the trip by night despite the NFF making arrangements for them to the contrary. Al-Shalmani was however silent on the reason behind the diversion of the flight, which could have led to a possible plane crash as that route wasn’t in the initial flight schedule.

A decision is expected to be made today with sanctions expected to be placed on Libya, who have also indicated their willingness to challenge any decision that goes against them with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The coach of AC Milan Paulo Fonseca says the introduction of Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze changed the game in his team’s 3-1 win over Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Fresh from his man of the performance against Udinese where he scored the winner, Chukwueze was surprisingly dropped to the bench with Portuguese winger Rafael Leao returning back to the team.

With Milan tied at 1-1 in the 60th minute against Brugge who were reduced to ten men in the 40th minute following the sending off of Chukwueze’s international teammate Raphael Onyedika, Fonseca introduced the Nigerian and one minute later his team took the lead for the first time in the game.

Chukwueze ensured the game is put to bed with an assist for Reijnders to help the midfielder grabbed his brace and in the process seals his club’s first win in the competition this season. Fonseca picked his introduction alongside Noah Okafor as the turning point of the game.

“I think we improved with the entry of Okafor and Chukwueze. When Okafor and Chukwueze came on, the game changed; they brought energy, and the team gained intensity. After the second goal, we did some very good things, but before that, we played without intensity”, he told SkySports after the game.

“There’s no specific problem with him (Leão). The substitution wasn’t a punishment; we needed Okafor and Chukwueze. It should be seen as normal; Rafa needs to see it as normal and work to help the team like all players.”

He rounded up by saying the Nigerian could regain his starting spot when they take on Bologna in the Italian Serie A on Saturday with the duo of Christian Pulisic and Okafor. ” Chukwueze, Pulisic, and Okafor from the start? “Maybe. I’m thinking about that now.

Nigeria international midfielder Raphael Onyedika has received strong backing from coach of Club Brugge Nicky Hayen after his sending off in his team’s 1-3 loss to AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Onyedika who was sent off in the Belgium League against Union SG 17 days ago was given his marching order in the 40th minute after a VAR review of his tackle on Tijjani Reijnders, which was initially given as a foul in his favor.

“That duel was hard against hard, the fourth referee even came to see if it wasn’t a red card for them. Then of course we were surprised that we got them. But I haven’t seen the images yet. At that moment you can speak of a bit of bad luck”, he said.

He however said after ensuring that the 23 year old is comforted they will have a conversation with him about his recent spate of red cards, but was clear that it won’t lead to dropping him from the team.

“We have comforted him now. Tomorrow we will have a quiet conversation about it. We are also a warm club in that area, one that doesn’t drop players.”

“This is how we will look for solutions together, I don’t want him to change his game, but these kinds of mistakes have to be made. We have to get smarter in that. It’s not always easy to learn that”, Hayes concludes.

He will serve a two game suspension effectively ruling him out of their next game, which will be against Aston Villa the surprise leaders of the UEFA Champions League in it’s new format

Coach of Atalanta Gian Piero Gasperini says the decision to substitute Ademola Lookman at halftime in his team’s 2-0 win over Venezia is partly down to the poor treatment he suffered with the rest of the Nigerian team while on international duty, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

The 27 year old was a part of the Nigerian team who were left stranded at an abandoned airport in Libya for over 16 hours, leading to the team abandoning their game against Libya in the AFCON qualifiers.

They were left stranded without food, water and internet connectivity as they spend the night at the airport, which their flight was diverted to in a strange manner by the Libyan authority. A situation which made CAF to suspend the game.

Back at his club Lookman was substituted and Gasperini reveals it was partly due to his fitness levels after Nigeria’s troubled international duty experience in Libya.

“Not at his physical best. He struggled to get back and help out in defence, so was not playing for the team. Venezia were improving and I needed to tie the team together more.”

He is however expected to keep his starting spot when they take on Scottish side Celtic in the UEFA Champions League tomorrow.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has picked a date for the start of the process of making a decision on the abandoned AFCON qualifiers game between Nigeria and Libya, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Nigeria were forced to return back to base after their flight was mysteriously diverted to another airport, away from the Benghazi airport where they obtained a landing permit before embarking on the flight from Nigeria.

Upon arrival they were left unattended to for over 16 hours with the players and officials locked in the airport without food and water. They were also without internet connectivity until the Nigerian embassy assisted them with a Mifi.

CAF suspended the game and opened investigation into the issue , and it’s disciplinary committee will begin sitting on the issue by tomorrow after receiving an explanation from both countries on what led to the impasse.

A decision is expected to be swift in order to not compromise the group settings before the November international round of games, which will bring the series to an end.

Meanwhile the Union of North African Football (UNAF) which includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco have resolved not to back incumbent president of CAF Patrice Motsepe for a second term.

They have made it known that they have a favorite already, and it’s why they won’t be backing the South African for another term in office. The duo of Egypt’s Hany Abo Rida and Fouzi Lekjaa from Morocco are being discussed as possible alternative to the Motsepe.

The Membership of UNAF:

– Algeria

– Egypt

– Libya

– Morocco

– Tunisia

The coach of Italian giants AC Milan has dropped Samuel Chukwueze from the starting lineup for today’s UEFA Champions League game against Club Brugge, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

He scored the only goal which handed them a 1-0 win over Udinese at the weekend, and it was his first goal of the season and it came after the decision of the coach Paulo Fonseca to play the Nigerian ahead of Portuguese star Rafael Leao.

Ahead of today’s game, the coach whose team are still searching for their first win in the tournament said the Portuguese will return to the team , alongside Theo Hernandez who was also not in the team that won over the weekend in the Serie A.

Fonseca admitted that it’s unfair for the Nigerian to be dropped after his performance, which also saw him pick the man of the match award but insist that his decision is for the good of the team.

“Theo and Leão will both play from the first minute tomorrow. I expect from them what I expect from everyone: that they do their best to help Milan win”, he said at the pre match conference.

“I will tell you directly tomorrow’s formation: Maignan, Emerson, Gabbia, Tomori, Theo, Fofana, Loftus, Reijnders, Leao, Pulisic and Morata.”

Nigeria international forward Victor Boniface won’t be involved for Bayer Leverkusen in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) game against Brest tomorrow after missing their final session ahead of the game, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

Boniface was involved in a car accident two days ago, but escaped with minor injuries however he isn’t considered well enough mentally to be involved in tomorrow’s game in France.

The trip that led to the accident was for the 23 year old to pick up his friend who was the one driving when the unfortunate accident happened. It was said he lost control of the vehicle due to the fatigue leading to the accident.

They were suggestions that the Nigerian did not use the night after the Frankfurt game for the necessary regeneration for Wednesday’s Champions League match in Brest either – behavior for which repercussions could be in order. The club has not yet taken a public stance on the consequences of the accident.

Club’s director Simon Rolfes was asked about if the club will place a possible fine on the Nigerian over the incident on Tuesday before leaving for France for the UEFA Champions League game. “No, it was a day off. And the players are also allowed to sit in the car on their day off. When friends or family come to visit, players are sometimes allowed to pick up family from the airport on their day off.”

He went further to defend Boniface on the suggestions that the Nigerian had stayed up late too (based on the fact that his friend lost control of the car because of fatigue): “It is unprofessional to draw conclusions about Boni’s condition from the condition of the driver and how he spent the night.

” So of course it’s not good that the situation has arisen, without question, but to draw conclusions about Boni because of that is unprofessional for me. As I said, fortunately it didn’t turn out badly. Of course it’s not good when a driver goes into a tour like that tired. There’s no question about that.”

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has demanded that the Super Eagles be awarded three points and three points for the abandoned AFCON 2025 qualifiers game against Libya, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

CAF suspended the AFCON qualifiers game between Libya and Nigeria after the Nigerian team was left stranded at the airport 16 hours upon arrival for the game, with Libyan authority instructing their flight away from it’s initial landing base to an abandoned airport, 300km away from the city of the game.

In their petition to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Nigeria are demanding that three points and three goals be awarded to them, because it was the poor treatment from their host that made them to abandon the game.

Cameroon and Senegal are backing the claims by Nigeria, and it brought about a heated debate during the CAF 46th extra ordinary Congress that took place earlier today.

Libya on their part have threatened to drag the case to the Cour of Arbitration of Sports if Super Eagles gets three points over the abandoned game. It will see Nigeria go through while Libya’s dream of going to the next AFCON will effectively come to an end.

Super Eagles are currently top of their group with 7 points, while Libya are rock bottom without a win in the first three games of the series.

The president of Confederation of African Football (CAF) Patrice Motsepe has hinted at stiff punishment to Libya for the manner which they conducted themselves leading to the suspension of their AFCON qualifiers game against Nigeria in Benghazi, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.

CAF suspended the AFCON qualifiers game between Libya and Nigeria after the Nigerian team was left stranded at the airport 16 hours upon arrival for the game, with Libyan authority instructing their flight away from it’s initial landing base to an abandoned airport, 300km away from the city of the game.

Speaking at the 46th Ordinary General Assembly of the football body , Motsepe said the practice of teams treating their fellow teams poorly upon arrival is a huge concern, referencing the Libya vs Nigeria game but said a final decision will be taken by the disciplinary committee of the body.

“There’s a reason why my phone is open, let me tell you why I refer to that. It’s because When there was this problem with the Nigerian national team In Libya. I will not comment on that because there’s a proper investigation, but I want to emphasize that as a principle that we will not tolerate. Because this is something that has been going on for quite some time with not just our national team I need to emphasize that.

” Forget about the Nigeria vs Libya situation because that process is being properly investigated and an appropriate action will be taken.

” I’ve read too many stories of football club or a national team goes to a country. You spend hours at the airport, and they ask you about documents that won’t exist and apparently during COVID, they would look into the best players from your national team and say those 10 players have got COVID and you say, but we’ve just been tested.

“No, no, no, they’ve got COVID, but it’s this lack of sportsmanship that has existed and we haven’t taken effective action. So I just want to repeat, we are proud of those nations. That countries treat visiting national teams and visiting football clubs with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Also portray them in the same way they want to be treated when they visit those countries.

” So I just want to repeat, we’re reviewing those laws and we want to emphasize sportsmanship when the national team from another country visits or a football club visits they get the respect they deserve and if there are violations of those regulations and those rules we will take action”.