Feature Libyan enjoyed short career in Italy

It may be a far cry from the Libya of now but way back in 2003 the Gaddafi empire was at the height of its power and such was Muammar Gaddafi's influence and finance, he was able to ensure his son could play at the Camp Nou.

It was April 1, 2003, and the Barcelona squad, lead by Radomir Antic, were going about their usual business, training at La Masia with an upcoming fixture against Villarreal in mind.

All of a sudden the session was halted because of a rather important visitor by the name of Al-Saadi Gaddafi, the player and president of Libyan club, Al-Ittihad as well as being the third son of the renowned dictator.

It was a routine and jovial visit with the Libyan, who actually enjoyed a short career in Serie A, greeting Los Cules' stars.

However the next day saw an even bigger event with a payment of 300,000 euros ensuring Al-Saadi's dream of finally playing at the Camp Nou.

The Blaugrana agreed to the offer and an impromptu friendly match was arranged which was to be televised by TV3 although permission from the Spanish Football Federation didn't arrive in time.

It must be remembered in some form of context, 2003 was a time when Libya and the Gaddafi's were friends of Europe, relations were so good in fact that in 2007 the leader himself received the gold key to the city of Madrid from the then Mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon.

All but one of Al-Ittihad's players that day were Libyan with only the goalkeeper, Luis de Agustini, being from Uruguay.

Today he makes a living by running an ice-cream van yet when he was offered a chance to go and play professional football in Libya in 2002, he wasn't even sure where the country was.

Yet as de Agustini outlined in his book, he was stepping into a strange world where he saw first-class stadiums for the time, five-star hotels, and luxury travel for players despite never having even known of Tripoli.

Al-Saadi was the driving force of such a culture in Libyan football.

Using his influence and finance he bulldozed the old ways and brought in a modern, perhaps even futuristic, style of football infrastructure to a country that at the time could only really be recalled across much of Europe for their hand in the Lockerbie bombing of 1988.

De Agustini was taken in with the country, he enjoyed his football and aside from the humorous anecdotes such as the time he saw the dictator's son brushing his teeth with a gold toothbrush, he eventually took citizenship and represented Libya in their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, of which Al-Saadi was captain.

Al-Saadi's trip to Catalonia however was not to be his most memorable European footballing achievement as he soon owned 7.5 percent of Juventus in 2003.

Marcello Lippi was left unimpressed by the Libyan's attempts to train with his team and eventually banned him.

He then purchased 33 percent of Triestina before an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to purchase Lazio outright and take full control of the Rome club.

An agreement involving his father's finance then saw him handed a playing career with Perugia despite coach Serse Cosmi knowing full well he wasn't of the requisite standard for top level Italian football.

Al-Saadi saw just ninety minutes of action from the bench before failing a drugs test and earning himself a three month ban.

The punishment however did not deter the belligerent Libyan as he eventually made a first-team appearance against Juventus, a team which at the time he still held a part-ownership of.

A move to Champions League-qualified Udinese would then follow, alas he never played a single minute of football with the likes of Antonio Di Natale or Vincenzo Iaquinta.

The glory years are however a long, long time ago with the Libyan Civil War of 2011 seeing the Gaddafi dynasty collapse and the country slip into civil unrest and widespread poverty.

Football is no longer a priority in Libya, gone are the luxuries demanding by Al-Saadi and in August of 2011 the man himself was arrested in Tripoli.

He ultimately fled and lived in exile in nearby Niger before rather surprisingly being spotted in Mexico and continues to live as a wanted man for murder charges.