The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has denied the allegations made by the captain of the Libya senior men’s national team, Faisal Al-Badri, regarding the poor treatment of the Libyan team upon their arrival in Nigeria.
The NFF has emphasized that it was the Libyan Football Federation (LFF) that caused disruptions and inconveniences for their team, the Mediterranean Knights.
The Assistant Director (Protocol) of the NFF, Emmanuel Ayanbunmi, provided detailed insights into the sequence of events. He stated that the LFF only informed the NFF about the team’s arrival in Port Harcourt, rather than the originally planned destination of Uyo, merely three hours before the team’s landing on Tuesday.
Ayanbunmi explained that despite his extensive conversation with the General Secretary of the LFF on the preceding Monday, there was no indication of the team’s imminent arrival on Tuesday. 
He further mentioned that the NFF had made arrangements to receive the Libyan team in Uyo. However, the plans were disrupted when the LFF informed them, only an hour after the team was airborne, about the change in landing location to Port Harcourt.
Despite the challenges, the NFF swiftly sought approvals from federal authorities to facilitate the team’s transfer to Uyo via air travel after completing immigration formalities in Port Harcourt.
Nonetheless, the LFF opted for road transportation from Port Harcourt to Uyo to avoid additional costs associated with chartering a flight.
Ayanbunmi also highlighted that the Libyan delegation declined the transportation arrangements provided by the NFF and instead opted to hire their buses.
He emphasized that any discomfort experienced during their road travel was not within the NFF’s control, as the Libyan team had chosen their mode of transportation.
Furthermore, the NFF ensured the provision of security for the Libyan delegation by deploying personnel and vehicles to escort and safeguard their journey, dismissing any allegations of negligence.
Note that the alleged ill-treatment of the Libya’s national team by the NFF in Nigeria led to the LFF to keep the Super Eagles stranded in Libya from Sunday, October 13 to the time of writing this report.
Below is an excerpt from NFF’s assistant director of protocol’s statement:
“I spoke to the General Secretary of LFF, at length, on Monday, 7th October and he never hinted that his team would be arriving on Tuesday (the following day). He only said he would get back to me but he never did. On Monday evening, someone sent as an advance party by the LFF called me and said his team would be arriving on Tuesday by noon. We made all arrangements to receive the team in Uyo on arrival.
“It was only an hour after the team was airborne that he told me the delegation would be landing in Port Harcourt. That disrupted so many things, but we still raced on hurdles to get approval from federal authorities to allow their plane to fly them to Uyo once they concluded immigration formalities in Port Harcourt. That would have meant the additional cost to the LFF from the charter company, and they didn’t want that, so they preferred to travel from Port Harcourt to Uyo by road.”
The statement added, “If they traveled on buses that were not air-conditioned, that had nothing to do with the NFF as they hired their buses. We provided security for them, with men and vehicles in front and behind their buses, so we are unmoved about their complaints and threats.”
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