Seven players from the Eritrea national squad have reportedly absconded from the team after featuring in the AFCON 2027 preliminary qualifiers against Eswatini.
The players disappeared after their country’s 2-0 second-leg win over Eswatini in late March. Eritrea secured a 4-1 aggregate win for the Red Sea Camels after the second leg, thus advancing to the main AFCON qualifying round for the first time in 19 years.
Head coach Hesham Yakan, confirmed that those involved were largely fringe players and suggested they may not continue their football careers.
Yakan, an Egyptian, said “most of them are substitute players. I do not think they will continue playing football.”
The players were among the team of locally based footballers called for the two-legged encounter, as seven of the 10 home-based players in the squad reportedly going missing.
They disappeared when the team was in South Africa en route back to Eritrea.
The goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and veteran forward Medhanie Redie and five others were those who went missing.
The latest development is in a series involving Eritrean athletes absconding during international assignments to seek asylum abroad. Similar cases have been reported in countries including Kenya, Botswana and, more recently, Uganda.
