Five players on the Eritrea women’s Under-20 football team went missing on Tuesday from a hotel in Uganda during a regional tournament.
Five players on the Eritrea women’s Under-20 football team went missing on Tuesday from a hotel in Uganda during a regional tournament, police and organisers said.
The players disappeared from the hotel in Jinja in southeastern Uganda and “the matter has been reported to the police,” said the East and Central African football association, which is overseeing the tournament.
Eritrea is due to play host Uganda in the East and Central African women’s Under-20 championship on Wednesday. They have lost their first two games at the Cecafa Women’s Under-20 Championship, to Tanzania and Ethiopia.
The quintet were part of the Eritrea squad for the CECAFA Women’s Under-20 Championship, which began on Saturday and runs until 9 November in nearby Njeru.
This is not the first time athletes of Eritrea fled on international duty, usually to escape an oppressive regime and forced military conscription in their home country. This is the second time in two years that Eritreans have gone missing from a Cecafa Under-20 Championship in Uganda, after five male players fled their hotel in the country in 2019.
Two groups of football players went missing at two separate tournaments in Uganda in 2019 and 17 men’s national team players and a team doctor claimed political asylum in Uganda in 2012. Another 10 players with the men’s national team refused to board a plane home and asked to stay in Botswana after playing a World Cup qualifier there in 2015.
A handful of Eritrean athletes also claimed asylum in Britain after the 2012 London Olympics.
Back in 2009, the entire team – apart from the coach and an official – failed to return from a Cecafa tournament in Kenya.
Human rights group Amnesty International says thousands of Eritreans continue to flee the east African country while authorities violate the rights to freedom of expression, religion and freedom of movement.
An executive director of Cecafa has told BBC Sport Africa that “sufficient” measures had been taken to prevent players fleeing despite the evidence to the contrary.
Auka Gecheo added that Cecafa will work closely with the Ugandan FA (Fufa) to find the missing players.
“We have reported [it] to the authorities and given all relevant information and, together with Fufa, we will cooperate with the authorities,” said Gecheo.
“There were sufficient security measures in place, and Fufa ensured that all teams were in good hotels.
“It has happened before. Authorities are well aware of previous occurrences. We will continue to work closely with the authorities while ensuring we deliver on our mandate to deliver all-inclusive tournaments in the region.”
MOLATsportgist 