Libyan hotel detention ends for SA football club officials

Two officials of a South African football club who were detained at a Libyan hotel for nearly three weeks over a dispute on payments said they had feared for their lives during the ordeal.

"When you see how Benghazi is - vandalised buildings, the army - you will get scared. We don’t see that often in South Africa," physio Tebogo Amos Dhlomo told journalists on Tuesday.

The pair had accompanied players of Marumo Gallants football club for a continental cup clash against Al Akhdar SC in the city of Benghazi.

They were detained at the hotel after the match over outstanding payments, according to South African media reports.

It's unclear what the dispute was about, but a club official is quoted as blaming difficulties in electronic payments systems which prompted the payments to be made in cash, according to news24 website.

Other reports indicated that the dispute was resolved following the intervention of the South African sports ministry.

Mr Dhlomo and media manager Rufus Matsena returned home on Sunday but narrated their ordeal on Tuesday at a media briefing attended by government officials.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: Marumo Gallants / Twitter