Libyan CAF Executive Committee member Abdul Hakim Al-Shalmani has expressed strong discontent with Captain Abdellatif Merchergui, a Tunisian pilot and Acting Head of Flight Operations at ValueJet, accusing him of presenting biased testimony in favor of Nigeria during a CAF hearing. Al-Shalmani alleges that Merchergui’s statements were “false and slanderous” and failed to maintain diplomatic integrity between Libya and Tunisia, promising to take legal action.

The controversy stems from a disrupted October AFCON qualifier between Libya and Nigeria, during which Nigeria called Merchergui as a key witness. Al-Shalmani criticized Nigeria for leveraging the star power of its players to gain public sympathy, emphasizing Libya’s readiness to appeal any adverse CAF ruling.