Player disappearances cast cloud over Eritrea future participation

JOHANNESBURG, April 8 : Eritrea’s participation in the Africa Cup of Nations preliminaries is now in question after seven of their footballers disappeared following their victory in Eswatini last month that secured them a spot in the group-stage qualifiers.

The players went missing after Eritrea completed a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Eswatini on March 31.

The episode keeps up a pattern that has characterised their international participation over the last two decades and led to Eritrea infrequently competing in both the World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Victory over Eswatini proved a surprise success for the lowly-ranked Eritrea considering they had not played an international match for six years.

It put them into the draw for the group-stage qualifiers, along with the five winners of other preliminary ties. They will join Africa’s 42 top-ranked teams, who will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each.

The group qualifiers are to be played between September and November to determine the teams that will qualify for the 2027 Cup of Nations finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Eritrea has been largely closed off to the rest of the world and has been described as a ‘hermit’ country. The Red Sea state, formerly part of Ethiopia, has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since independence in 1993, and human rights groups have repeatedly described his government as repressive.

NO TRAVEL

Players and other team members defected after matches or tournaments in Angola in 2007, Kenya in 2009, Tanzania in 2011, Uganda in 2012, Botswana in 2015, following a World Cup qualifier, and Uganda again in 2019.

It is estimated some 80 footballers have defected while playing for the national team abroad, none of them going on to pursue