Seven Eritrean players fail to return home after international match

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Tesfalem AraiaBBC Tigrinya

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Eritrea has reached the qualifying group stages for the Africa Cup of Nations

Seven players from the Eritrean football squad that scored a historic victory in Eswatini last week have failed to return home, a source close to the team has told the BBC.

While some of their teammates flew back from Eswatini’s neighbour, South Africa, the seven are said to have absconded.

There have been several cases when Eritreans competing in various sports have not gone home after international fixtures in recent years.

Rights groups have described the government in Asmara as highly repressive - a charge which the authorities reject. Despite its small population, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have sought asylum abroad.

The news of the players absconding will come as a blow to the team, which, following its 2-1 win in Eswatini and 4-1 victory on aggregate, was celebrating a return to the qualifying group stages for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years.

Only 10 of the 24-man squad were based in Eritrea and just three of those players, including team captain Ablelom Teklezghi, have now returned, sources in Asmara told BBC Tigrinya.

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While it is unclear where the missing players have gone, reports say some of them have been seen in South Africa.

Those who have absconded include goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and veteran winger Medhanie Redie.

Eritrea’s state-owned media outlets have been unusually quiet on the victorious team’s return, which would normally be accompanied by a big fanfare.

Sources say preparations were made for a similar reception but was cancelled following news of the disappearance of the players.

The spokesperson of Eritrea’s Sport and Culture Commission, who has been providing updates on social media about the recent success of the team, posted pictures of some of the returning players and staff in Egypt, where the Eritrean embassy and community members organised a reception for them.

They stopped in Cairo on the way back to Eritrea.

But the only players seen in those pictures were the ones who then went on to fly to Asmara.

Many Eritrean fans had been hoping that the victory over Eswatini would lead to a renaissance of Eritrean football, but for many Eritreans the latest news has a familiar ring.

Over the last two decades, the national team at different levels has been scarred by a series of events in which players, and even almost entire squads, have disappeared either before or after games abroad.

In 2019, seven players from the Eritrean under-20 side went missing after playing in the East African regional championship in Uganda.

In 2015, 10 senior squad players refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana.

Two years earlier, 15 players and the team doctor were granted asylum in Uganda after they absconded.

And in 2009 the entire senior team, apart from the coach and an official, failed to return home from Kenya.

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