The General Command of the Libyan National Army (LNA) has taken charge of the travel arrangements and treatment of the Libyan national football team players suffering from malaria, who were prevented from traveling to Italy with their colleagues.
The LNA General Command explained that this step came following instructions from the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, as an alternative solution. They were removed from the ambulance plane that was going to take them for treatment minutes before take off, according to the media office of the General Command.
Notably, Libyan minifootball player Aseel Al-Tarhouni, who contracted malaria at the African tournament, revealed a corruption incident after two Libyan players were removed from the plane to replace them with a son of a Libyan senior official.
The plane was heading to Italy, carrying two Libyan players who had malaria, with the aim of providing them with treatment in Rome.
“We were 12 players, we were divided into 6 in each plane, and at the airport, they called on our names, including Wissam and Rabie, who were removed from the plane,” he said during an interview via Club House.
“We, and our teammates Wesam and Rabie, boarded the plane, then the accompanying doctor came and asked them to get off the plane. The doctor claimed that Wesam has a corona positive, although he has a negative pcr test. He also claimed that Rabie wasn’t included at the passenger’s list,” Al-Tarhouni noted.
“As soon as they got off the plane, two people went up in their place. They are the son of Libyan Member of Parliament, Salem Qanan, and a person named Rafie Bayou.”
“After they were taken out, we protested and wanted to get out of the plane, but the officials told us our teammates will take another flight. We took off and after we arrived, we did not find them,” he said.