The Confederation of Africa Football is keeping all concerned in suspense after failing to announce its verdict on Wednesday as regards the botched AFCON qualifying Group A fixture scheduled for October 15 at Benina Martyrs Stadium.

It appears the football body has yet to arrive at a decision, with BeIN Sports revealing that the Disciplinary Committee entertained explanations from both parties on Wednesday via video conference, with Libya and Nigeria duly represented.

CAF had previously decided to cancel the Libya-Nigeria match after the Nigerian national team left Libya in protest at the diversion of its flight to Labraq Airport, where they were locked in for 18 hours with neither food nor water.

Nigeria had called on CAF to intervene to rescue them from detention inside Labraq Airport, according to the Nigerian side’s allegations.

CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, said that the incident was under investigation as the rules for receiving visiting teams are being reviewed, stressing that CAF will take strict decisions in this crisis and will not tolerate any deviation.

Real Madrid pulled off another sensational comeback in the Champions League on Tuesday night, coming from two goals down to defeat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 at the Bernabeu.

The Bundesliga side stunned the home crowd with goals from Donyell Malen and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.

But Vinicius Junior struck a second-half hat-trick as the holders took all three points.

At the Emirates, Gabriel Martinelli forced an own goal in the first half, as they edged Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0.

PSV played out a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain.

In other fixtures, AC Milan beat Club Brugge 3-1, Aston Villa saw off Bologna 2-0, Stuttgart shocked Juventus 1-0 in Turin and Sporting Lisbon won 2-0 at Sturm Graz.

More than 400 footballers have been waiting for over a year to receive payments from a FIFA-run fund designed to help players owed money by their clubs, according to AFP.

The amount of $4 million was reportedly meant to be paid to 420 players by September 30 of last year.

However, it has been reported that these payments destined for the out-of-pocket players have still not been made.

Emails and letters from global players’ union FIFPro to FIFA chasing up the payment have reportedly gone unanswered.

Many of the players impacted are believed to be based in Portugal, Greece and Romania. Although the figure of 420 does also include players from all over the world.

The sum is part of the FIFA Fund for Football Players (FFP), which was set up in 2020 following an agreement between the governing body and FIFPro.

FIFA set aside $16 million at the fund’s launch, with the aim of providing “financial support to players who have not been paid and have no chance of duly receiving the wages agreed with their clubs”, as per Inside FIFA.

The reports follow the filing of a complaint last week by bodies representing footballers and clubs in Europe, including FIFPro, which accuses FIFA of abusing its position over changes to the international match calendar and tournament expansions.

AFP