Despite the many attempts of the popular Libyan football player, Tareq Al-Taeb, to apologize for his antagonism towards the Libyan revolution, his dreams of returning to the national team are still blocked by official rejection.
Despite the many attempts of the popular Libyan football player, Tareq Al-Taeb, to apologize for his antagonism towards the Libyan revolution, his dreams of returning to the national team are still blocked by official rejection.
“Many were annoyed by my statements during the revolution and they have every right to be angry,” Al-Taeb said. “But, I swear to God that any Libyan in my shoes would have done the same. Threats were made to harm my family.” With these words, the 35-year-old midfielder of the Libyan Al-Ahly Tripoli Club, who is well-known for his impressive passes, tried to apologize for supporting Gaddafi and his regime against the revolution, stressing his willingness “to rejoin the national team at any time.”
Provocative apology
But this lukewarm apology only made people opposing his return more obstinate. They consider his apology provocative; fans will not forgive his attitude against their revolution, despite his special talent.
From the very beginning, Al-Taeb supported Gaddafi’s regime despite the jealousy of Al-Saadi, Gaddafi’s son, who was the head of the Football Association and a player in the national team. Gadaffi closely observed Al-Taeb’s impressive rise and tried to halt his promising career.
Shock to fans
Al-Taeb’s TV statements on the Libyan official channel, Al-Jamahiriya, at the beginning of the revolution, were a great shock for his fans.
Since that time, he has been playing abroad and waiting for the right moment to return to the Libyan stadiums and to his fans whom he lost upon attacking the revolution after many years of agreeing on his patriotism and exceptional talent.
Al-Taeb expressed his deep sadness about Gaddafi’s death by the Libyan rebels. He described what happened in Libya as a “conspiracy” targeting the state sovereignty and accused the rebels of destroying the country’s infrastructure and undermining the sense of security.
Bad luck
After about fifteen years of professional playing in Portugal, Italy, Turkey, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, Al-Taeb returned to the club where he started and wanted to end his career, only a few months before the outbreak of the revolution which subjected him, like all Libyan people, to a difficult exam in which he unfortunately failed.
That failure has made him a target for accusations by people and sport audiences in particular. He is now waiting for a verdict that will not be issued by judges, for all people, including the court guard, have special views in this trial.
Player and citizen
The question to be asked is why sport fans have been divided over Al-Taeb. Is there a difference between Al-Taeb, the player, and the Al-Taeb, the citizen? Is he paying the price of his fame? Doesn’t the amnesty for “those who didn’t kill or steal” cover all the people? Isn’t this the revolution’s spirit?
These are questions asked by the Libyan people known for their passion for football. That is why they have been divided, during and after the revolution, into fans and supporters of his return and people opposing and rejecting his apology and repentance.
More tolerant people argue that Al-Taeb, despite his shocking statements about the revolution, was never a supporter of Gaddafi’s regime for he suffered the bitterness of stress and prosecution by ‘Anti-Stardom’ Unit directed by his opponent, Al-Saadi Gaddafi who didn’t hesitate to imprison him for two weeks after he returned from Portugal where he was playing for ‘Beira Mar’, a second-division club, in 1997. He was imprisoned more than once.
According to them, Al-Taeb’s statements during the revolution’s early days were just a precautious step to protect his family as well as himself for fear of experiencing what happened to the late couch, Basheer Al-Rayyani, who was killed in 2005 as a result of an argument with Al-Saadi.
Unaccepted repentance
On the other hand, some condemn his latest statements and apology, in which he welcomes the success of the revolution that toppled “the dictator’s regime.” They believe that Al-Taeb is a national player and a public figure with great clout, who should have supported the revolution and the Libyan people from the very beginning rather than side with the unjust party.
He has tried his best to apologize and justify his attitude on many Arabic and Libyan satellite channels, efforts however rejected by the Libyan sport officials.
Official rejection
Abdulhafeedh Arbeesh, previously coach assistant to the former Brazilian coach, Marcos Bakita, and the current coach of the Libyan national team, stated upon toppling the regime, that players of the national team should be, above all, loyal to the revolution.
Arbeesh however contradicted himself when he said that the final word on the team formation, at the time, belonged to the Brazilian coach. According to Al-Taeb’s media statements, Bakita phoned him and officially summoned him to join the national team but the technical and administrative staff rejected his return.
The national team’s captain, Ahmed Sa’ad, said in an interview on Libya TV that he would quit playing for the national team if Al-Taeb returned. Ahmed Zuway, the national team’s forward, agreed with Sa’ad, saying that Al-Taeb is technically an excellent player but he betrayed the Libyan people.
Nevertheless, his apology has been widely welcomed by people and fans, particularly those who prefer to distinguish between Al-Taeb, the footballer, and his political views.
That was evident through the attitudes of many sport figures, including Abdul Ra’ouf Bal-Nour, a Libyan coach, who, through Libya Al-Riadyia channel, explicitly demanded the return of Al-Taeb to the national team because it badly needed him. He also stressed the need for national reconciliation.
After many unsuccessful attempts to apologize, Al-Taeb started defending himself in a different way; he started revealing some facts that confirmed he was personally damaged by the dissolved regime, citing his famous imprisonment incident and the attempt of Al-Saadi to pay $1 million to the Italian Perugia Club to terminate its contract with him.
Today, fans of football and of the national team condemn Al-Taeb’s statements against their revolution and his support for Gaddafi’s regime, but at the same time they are confused about his apology and late repentance.
