At least seven players from the Eritrean national team did not return home after their historic qualification for the group stage of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in South Africa, APA can report on Monday.
The development comes shortly after Eritrea secured a 4-1 aggregate victory over Eswatini, a result that saw the East African nation advance to the group stage of the qualifiers for the first time in 19 years.
According to information received by APA, only three of the ten locally-based players have returned to Eritrea.
The players who made the trip back home are Ablelom Teklezgi, Nahom Tadese, and Romel Abdu, while the remaining seven players are believed to have absconded while still in South Africa.
The incident has sparked fresh concerns over recurring cases of athletes from Eritrea seeking to remain abroad during international engagements, often citing personal and political reasons.
Eritrea’s progression to the group stage had been celebrated as a major milestone for the country’s football development, making the sudden disappearance of the players a significant setback for the team.
Without a stadium approved for international football, the Red Sea Camels were forced to play their home fixture in Morocco last Wednesday, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Sulieman and fellow forward Siem Eyob-Abraha, who plays for Sheffield United in England’s second tier and is a former Manchester United youth player.
Ranked 184th in the world by Fifa, with only four African nations below them, Eritrea have played just a handful of games over the last six years, and last played an Afcon qualifier in September 2007, ironically against Eswatini.
MG/abj/APA