The floods and floods that swept eastern Libya recently, specifically the city of Derna, affected all aspects of life, including football, which suffered losses, most notably the death of 4 players and the absence of any match in Libya, forcing the teams participating in the African championships to play away from their stadiums.

The Libyan Football Association confirmed the death of 4 players among the victims of floods and floods, but this number may be likely to increase in light of the presence of some players on the lists of missing.

The federation said through its official Facebook account, "We console ourselves and the sports community with the loss of athletes Shaheen Gemayel, Saleh Sassi, Hussein Shalouf, and Munther Sadaka."

The Libyan federation also decided not to hold any matches and postpone the matches of the last round of the qualifiers for promotion to the local league, which makes the possibility of postponing or canceling the Libyan league, which is scheduled to start next month.

"The Libyan Football Association announces the suspension of all its meetings during these days in solidarity with our victims and martyrs in the Jabal al-Akhdar and Derna region," he added.

The latter decision directly affected the three Libyan teams participating in the African Club Championships, as they were forced to play away from home in the two matches (home and away), and this gives a greater advantage to the rival teams, and one of these teams, Al-Hilal, will even play with its Rwandan rival at the latter's stadium in both matches.

Based on a letter from the Libyan Federation, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided to postpone the match between Ahli Benghazi and ASEC Mimosas, champions of Ivory Coast, in the round of 32 of the African Champions League for 24 hours, and moved it from Benghazi to the Olympic Stadium in Sousse in Tunisia last Monday.

Although Ahli Benghazi succeeded in overcoming the Nigerian team Enyimba - crowned champion twice - in the first preliminary round, it was affected by playing away from home in exchange for its rival an additional advantage thanks to which he achieved a goalless draw in the first leg, which is likely in the second leg in early October at home.

In the African Confederation Championship, the match between the Libyan team Abu Salim and Uganda's Kampala City was moved to Hamadi Al-Aqrabi Stadium in Rades, Tunisia, in the first leg of the round of 32, and Abu Salim succeeded in resolving it in his favor 3-1 last Sunday.

Crescent most affected

Al-Hilal was the Libyan team most affected by the disaster, as it was scheduled to face Rayon Sport of Rwanda in the first leg of the round of 32 of the African Confederation last Friday at the Benina Martyrs Stadium in Benghazi, which did not happen due to the decision not to hold matches in Libya.

Mohamed Odeh says the Egyptian coach of the Libyan team Al Hilal Al Jazeera Net that the Rwandan team had already arrived in Benghazi before the decision not to hold matches in Libya, and rejected a proposal to play the match in Tunisia or Egypt, and stuck to play the two games in Rwanda at home and among its fans.

Mohamed Odeh, coach of Al Hilal of Libya (right) with Mohamed Othman, fitness coach of the team (Al Hilal Club)

Odeh, a former Egyptian national team player and Arab Contractors Club, adds that the African Football Confederation approved Rayon Sport's request and Al Hilal will head to Rwanda tomorrow, Thursday, to play the first leg next Sunday and return on the following Friday, which gives a relative advantage to its rival.

It is noteworthy that as a result of the distance between Benghazi (east) and Tripoli (west), which is estimated at more than a thousand kilometers, the Libyan Premier League is held in two groups, representing a group of teams east and the other west, and the first 3 teams in each group qualify for a six-round tournament held in any country, knowing that the last 3 editions were held in Tunisia and the winner is the champion who qualifies with his runner-up to the African Champions League, while the third and fourth participate in the African Confederation.