'Players used their fame' - Besiktas' Libyan midfielder blasts European media for siding with Super Eagles

Besiktas defensive midfielder Moatasem Al-Musrati has heavily criticized the European media for the way they reported the Nigeria national team's ordeal in Libya, claiming that they sided with the Super Eagles. 

Last month, Al-Musrati announced his retirement from international football, citing the many administrative problems surrounding the Libyan national team, which negatively affect the team.

The Super Eagles players finally arrived in Abuja on Monday evening and narrated how they were held up in Libya for up to eighteen hours under horrific circumstances. 

The Super Eagles feared for their safety as the airport where they were forced to land had no security.

In a post on his Facebook page, Moatasem Al-Musrati clamed that several European media outlets circulated a very misleading and incomplete story.

He revealed that the European press highlighted that the Super Eagles suffered from ill-treatment in Libya ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, without including that the Mediterranean Knights were also treated poorly by the hosts when they arrived in Uyo via Port Harcourt. 

The former Libya international stated that everything the Super Eagles experienced in Libya was a direct consequence of what the Mediterranean Knights went through during their visit to Nigeria last week.

"This evening, some European media have been falsely reporting the suffering of of Nigerian players after they were badly treated in Libya when they came to play the second Leg game here against the  Libyan national football team,” Al-Musrati said on Monday. 

"This game counts as the fourth round match for the qualifiers of the next African Nations cup.

"The full truth of what happened is that this is a normal and logical result according to what had happened to the Libyan National team when they went to play the first leg match in Nigeria.

"Libyan players were held for hours in the Airport for no reason then were thrown in malfunctioning busses.

"They were driven in those buses for three hours to arrive in an area with high military tension."

The European press, especially the British press, closely followed developments in Libya with keen interest because of the Premier League players in the Nigeria squad. 

In addition, it must be noted that Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Ola Aina, Semi Ajayi and Bright Osay-Samuel are British citizens.

On Monday, the likes of William Troost-Ekong, who has a connection with Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface and Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi continued updating Nigerians of their ordeal in the hands of the Libyan authorities despite limited internet access.

Al-Musrati continued: "These events were not mentioned by the media because the Libyan players are not famous enough while the Nigerian players were able to use their fame to show they were treated poorly, thanks to their social media.

"Libya is a country that is known for its hospitality and welcoming people, history has shown that.

"No National team has ever been treated poorly when visiting our country.

"What happened here was a reaction to the horrible treatment that our players had to endure, nothing more!"

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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