Nigeria Soccer Team Stranded At Airport For Nearly 15 Hours Without Food Or Water, Allege 'Mind Games'

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The Nigeria men's soccer team boarded a chartered flight on Sunday en route to Benghazi ahead of its Tuesday match against Libya in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier clash. Instead, the team's plane was diverted to what team captain William Troost-Ekong called an "abandoned" Al Abraq International Airport where the team was stranded for nearly 15 hours.

The team's plane was reportedly diverted while beginning its descent into Benghazi. Upon landing, the team was set to travel to the city by road from Al Abraq. This is when things officially took a turn for the worse.

Nigerian forward Victor Boniface shared an update on social media saying that he and his teammates had "been at the airport for almost 13 hours no food no wifi and nowhere to sleep. Africans we can do better."

Troost-Ekong shared further details about the situation while explaining Nigeria would not be fulfilling its match against Libya.

More than 12 hours in an abandoned airport in Lybia after our plane was diverted whilst descending," Troost-Ekong wrote on social media.

"Lybian government rescinded our approved landing in Benghazi with no reason. They’ve locked the airport gates and left us without phone connection, food or drink. All to play mind games.

"I’ve experienced stuff before playing away in Africa but this is disgraceful behaviour."

"At this point, we have called for our Nigerian Government to intervene and rescue us. As the captain together with the team, we have decided that we will not play this game," Troost-Ekong continued.

"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 will not accept to travel anywhere by road here even with security it’s not safe.

"We can only imagine what the hotel or food would be like given to us if we continued."

After spending over half of a day inside the airport, Troost-Ekong shared another troubling update on Monday morning alleging more mind games from airport staff.

Nigeria appears to have come to a decision not to play its fixture against Libya, but it remains to be seen if it will hold true to it with plenty of time to go on with the match as scheduled.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.