The Attorney General Siddiq Al-Sur, on Thursday, issued a detention order against the President of the Libyan Mini-Football Federation, Hussain Tuwaileb, over the national team's players being infected with malaria while participating in the African Championship in Nigeria.

This came after Al-Sur instructed the "initiation of investigations into the causes of malaria in order to determine the legal responsibility for the violation of  duties imposed by the laws and regulations governing preventive health", according to a statement issued by the Attorney General's office.

The statement noted that the public prosecutor's office began its investigation by questioning the administrators of the trip to Nigeria and ended up holding the president of the federation in custody, pointing out that criminal investigations are still under way against all persons who have been detained.

Last week, the death of Libyan footballer Ayman Al-Naqrish from malaria following his participation in the recent African Championship in Nigeria, and injuries to a number of players, prompted calls for an investigation into the incident and for officials to be held accountable.

In turn, the head of the interim government of national unity, Abdelhamid Dabaiba, mourned Al-Naqrish in a tweet, and confirmed he will "closely follow" the investigations of the committee formed by Sports Minister Abdulshafi Al-Jawaifi.