Atletico Madrid won the Reconstruction Cup held in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. The football competition was sponsored and organised by the Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund, controlled by the Hafter family.
The Spanish La Liga team defeated Seria A’s Inter Milan 4-3 on penalties in a match held at the 41,000 capacity Benghazi International Stadium last Friday (10 October). The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Atletico Madrid ending the first half in the lead, but Inter Milan equalized in the second half sending the match at full-time into penalties.
Political significance for the Hafter family
From a sporting perspective, the match had little significance, with most the leading players in both teams away on international duty.
However, the match had huge significance politically for Khalifa Hafter and his sons. Ostensibly, the match was to mark the reconstruction and reopening of the Benghazi Stadium.
But, significantly in the eyes of the Hafters, the match enabled the family to show eastern Libyans, Tripoli and the rest of the world that they provide stability and security in eastern Libya to a greater degree than the Tripoli regime can.
They successfully attracted two major European teams to compete (for reportedly millions of Euros) in the city of Benghazi where the two teams would have possibly not competed in Tripoli.
It was the first time in 23 years that two top European teams played in Libya, with the last occasion being the holding in Tripoli of the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) between Juventus and Parma.
Libya’s official state news agency, LANA, said ‘‘The significance of the match goes beyond sports, with many Libyans seeing this high-level European visit as a clear sign of restoring stability and the beginning of a new phase of openness to the world.
The match is a symbol of the return of normalcy to Libya, and a message of hope that sport can be a bridge to reconstruction and national unity.
Organizers hope that the event will contribute to putting Libya back on the international sports map and open the way for more major events in the future, especially with the readiness of sports infrastructure in a number of Libyan cities.’’
