Following their participation in the nation’s AFCON 2027 preliminary qualifiers versus Eswatini, seven members of the Eritrea national team are said to have fled the team.
The players vanished after Eritrea defeated Eswatini 2-0 in the second match in late March, which gave the Red Sea Camels a 4-1 aggregate victory, according to Reuters. With the victory, Eritrea reached the main AFCON qualification round for the first time in 19 years, marking a historic milestone.
But the accomplishment has been eclipsed by the players’ disappearance. The majority of those involved were marginal players, according to head coach Hesham Yakan, who also hinted that they might not pursue football careers.They are mostly substitutes. The Egyptian coach stated, “I do not think they will continue playing football.”
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Seven of the ten home-based players in the team are apparently AWOL, and the players are thought to be part of the group of locally based football players chosen for the two-leg match. They vanished while the team was passing through South Africa on its way back to Eritrea.
Veteran attacker Medhanie Redie and goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon are among those reported missing.The event is the most recent in a string of Eritrean athletes fleeing to seek sanctuary abroad while on international missions. In the past, similar incidents have been documented in Kenya, Botswana, and, more recently, Uganda.
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