Nigeria’s CAF Confederation Cup campaigners, Heartland FC of Owerri, could not depart Lagos on Thursday as scheduled due to logistics problem.
The team will now depart Friday for Libravilles, Gabon for the second leg of their African Cup competition against Union Sportif Bitam after a failed attempt to embark on the journey on Thursday.
The ‘Naze Millionaires’ were at Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning for the trip but were disappointed as there were not enough seats to accommodate members of the contingent.
The Gabonese registered airline, Askia, issued only 10 tickets to 10 players, which would have made the team to travel in batches.
After it was discovered that there would be no accompanying official to lead the players on the trip, the team was deboarded.
Heartland now hope to get their 31-man contingent into Gabon through the same airline on Friday after the club and Askia officials in Lagos got in touch with the airline’s headquarters in Libravilles.
The Media Officer of Heartland FC, Cajetan Nkwopara, who confirmed the development, said the team’s spirit is not dampened by what happened.
Rather, Nkwopara said Heartland see it as an act of God.
He said: “Sometimes when a team is challenged this way, you see the best coming out of everybody.
“We’ll do our best to be in Gabon and we’ll do our best to qualify.”
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