Overview
- Eritrea, which sealed a 4-1 aggregate win over Eswatini on March 31, reported that seven of its locally based players vanished during the return trip via South Africa.
- Coach Hesham Yakan confirmed the disappearances to Reuters, and a CAF official told AFP the players were missing when the team arrived in Cairo.
- From 10 home-based players in the 24-man squad, only three returned to Asmara, according to reports from AFP and Yahoo Sports.
- Reports named the missing as goalkeepers Kibrom Solomon and Awet Maharena, defenders Wedeb Fessehaye, Yosief Tsegay and Nahom Awet, midfielder Medhane Redie, and striker Amanuel Benhur.
- The case echoes years of Eritrean defections linked by rights groups to indefinite national service, with a UN estimate of about 80 football-related cases, and it clouds Eritrea’s place in group qualifiers scheduled for September to November.