Marumo Gallants staff shed light on Libya detention

Matsena and Dhlomo were detained at the team's hotel in Benghazi, after their Caf Confederation Cup group clash against Al Akhdar on 19 March, over an alleged unpaid bill of $37 000 (approx. R680 000) for their return flights.

The pair finally returned home on Monday following mediation between Libyan authorities and the South African foreign ministry (Dirco), but were left traumatised by the experience.

Matsena, who is the club's media liaison officer, detailed how events unfolded as they remained behind to try and settle the matter, but they never imagined it would drag on for nearly three weeks.

"The whole idea was for us to be there for two to three days. The chairman had to pay into our accounts [then] we go to the foreign exchange, and withdraw the money, get it into dollars and pay the hotel. But with the hotel itself, we had cash we were carrying, myself and Mr Dhlomo that we needed to pay for the hotel, and that one was settled there was no problem. The issue was more on the flight tickets the prices were not that clear", he claimed. 

The reason they had a flight ticket bill with the hotel owner was allegedly due to the unavailability of flights out of Benghazi during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The club then opted to seek help from businessman Dr Ali Elzargha, who hosted them at his hotel when they faced Al Ahly Tropli in the competition's play-off round in November last year, to arrange flights from inside the country.

"One thing that started giving me some doubts was the fact that when we arrived at the hotel he [Dr Elzargha] confiscated my passport. For any place, a hotel, they'll take your passport, make a copy and give back to you the original, but he kept it with him. So that started raising eyebrows from me that 'no man, there's something which is not right here'. 

“Then the time we got the so-called invoice, it came as one figure, and invoice, [as] you know must have a breakdown. For instance, if you're talking about tickets, 'I bought so many tickets', you must have a unit price, which is one ticket cost x-amount, and then collective. But if you come with an umbrella price it becomes a problem.”

While the hotel owner claimed in an interview with another publication the two South Africans were detained in a "comfortable" manner, Matsena shared some insight into the treatment they received at the hotel.

"We were in a hotel, yes, but the condition was different. In the sense that you don't have your freedom. That on its own took a toll on us. It took me nine solid days without sleeping. I think I still have that problem because even yesterday I couldn't sleep up to now. Food, especially breakfast, depended on their mood for the day. In most cases, we ate once a day.”