Photo Credit - South Sudan Football Association.
Ahead of their East Africa derby in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, South Sudan have launched an official complaint to the world governing body FIFA and Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) on what they termed as mistreatment of their squad ahead of the fixture.
The Bright Stars are due to face their neighbours in the matchday six fixture of Group B at Martyrs of February Stadium in Libya on Tuesday. However, the South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) have blamed their Sudan Football Association (SFA) counterparts for the lack of support and coordination on their arrival in Benghazi.
Below is the statement as obtained by Pan-Africa Football from SSFA, who called on FIFA and CAF for accountability;
"The South Sudan Football Association (SSFA) wishes to express its deep disappointment in the Sudan Football Association regarding the recent events surrounding our National Team, Bright Star.
Today, our team embarked on their journey from Cairo, Egypt, at 8:00 am, with the hope of smoothly transitioning to Benghazi, Libya. Upon arrival at 10:12 am, the team anticipated meeting a representative from the Sudanese side to facilitate its entry into Libya.
Unfortunately, this expectation was not met, and our team found themselves stranded at the airport for a staggering three hours. This situation became even more distressing as the Libyan migration authorities seized our players' passports, citing the absence of our coordinators as the reason for this action.
Despite the lengthy wait, no representative from the Sudan Football Association appeared to assist our team. After three long hours of uncertainty, the migration officers ultimately decided to allow the team to exit the airport, albeit without their passports, which remained with the authorities as a guarantee. This experience not only caused significant distress for our players but also raised serious concerns about the lack of support and coordination from the Sudanese side.
It is crucial for football associations to uphold their commitments to one another, especially when it comes to the welfare of players who represent their nations. We hope that moving forward, the Sudan Football Association will recognize the importance of communication and cooperation, ensuring that such unfortunate incidents do not occur in the future.
As a result of that unfortunate events from the hand of Sudan Football Association, most of the players are currently sick, others extremely tired and others mentally affected. As a team representing a sovereign country, we feel such treatment are disrespectful and unacceptable.
We kindly appeal to FIFA and CAF for accountability."
While Sudan are topping their group with 11 points, their neighbours are sitting last of the pile with two points from five matches.
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