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Seven members of the Eritrea national football team have reportedly failed to return home after their side’s victory over the Eswatini national football team in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
A source close to the squad told the BCC on Monday that although part of the delegation travelled back through South Africa after the match, seven players are believed to have absconded.
The incident followed Eritrea’s 2–1 win away to Eswatini, sealing a 4–1 aggregate triumph and booking a place in the qualifying group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years.
Read Also: FIFA Fines Israeli FA For Anti-Discrimination Rules Breaches
According to sources, only 10 of the 24 players in the squad were based in Eritrea, and just three of them—including team captain Ablelom Teklezghi—have since returned to the country.
While the exact whereabouts of the missing players remain unknown, there are indications that some may still be in South Africa. Those yet to return include goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and experienced winger Medhanie Redie.
The development has dampened what had been a major sporting milestone, with state-run media in Eritrea offering little information about the team’s homecoming.
Plans to host a reception for the victorious squad were reportedly shelved after news of the players’ disappearance emerged.
Photos released by officials showed some members of the team being welcomed by embassy representatives and Eritrean community members in Cairo during a stopover. However, only those who later continued the journey to Asmara were present.
The latest incident mirrors a recurring trend involving Eritrean athletes who fail to return after international assignments.
In 2019, seven players from the country’s under-20 side went missing following a regional competition in Uganda. Four years earlier, 10 senior players declined to return home after a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana.
Earlier cases include 15 players and a team doctor granted asylum in Uganda in 2013, while in 2009, nearly the entire senior squad failed to return after travelling to Kenya.
FIFA fined the Israeli Football Association (IFA) 150,000 Swiss francs ($190,700) on Thursday for “multiple breaches” of its anti-discrimination obligations.
A report by the disciplinary committee of world football’s governing body found the IFA “failed to take meaningful action against Beitar Jerusalem” for “persistent and well-documented racist behaviour”.
In October 2024, the Palestine Football Association reported allegations of discrimination by the IFA to FIFA, which initiated an investigation.
FIFA did not opt for the sanction requested by the Palestinian FA, which argued for a suspension of the IFA.
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But the IFA was found to have failed to “abide by FIFA’s statutory objectives”, in a lengthy decision published by its disciplinary committee, which listed several racism incidents in Israeli football.
The disciplinary committee highlighted “deficient and substantively inadequate” sanctions against Israeli club Beitar for racist and discriminatory behaviour.
“Supporters have engaged in persistent and well-documented racist behaviour,” the report said of Beitar fans.
“The club’s use of slogans such as ‘forever pure’, and the repeated chanting of ethnic slurs such as ‘terrorist’ directed at Arab players are not isolated incidents but rather form part of a systemic pattern of conduct that offends the basic rules of decent behaviour and brings the sport into disrepute.
“The committee underlined that said club is only a small example of a general failure by the IFA.”
FIFA also said the IFA was issued with a warning and was ordered to display a “significant and highly visible banner” at its next three FIFA competition home matches, stating “Football Unites the World – No to Discrimination”.
The IFA will have to invest one-third of the fine towards implementing a plan to “ensure action against discrimination and to prevent repeated incidents”.
After a separate investigation, FIFA announced no action would be taken against the IFA over allegations that Israeli clubs based in the occupied West Bank were taking part in Israel’s leagues.
Wimbledon’s controversial expansion plan received a major boost Thursday after a judge at London’s High Court ruled the proposed development of the current site is not subject to restrictions on how the land cam be used.
Officials at the All England Club, which owns Wimbledon and has been hosting a tournament there since 1877, want to triple the size of the site for the grass-court Grand Slam.
The proposals would see the construction of 38 new tennis courts and an 8,000-seat stadium on the grounds of the former Wimbledon Park Golf Club, which would allow it to host All England Club qualifiers on site instead of across south London at Roehampton.
Wimbledon’s plans were approved by the Greater London Authority (GLA) in 2024.
