LOBAMBA – Sihlangu are offered an unlikely, champagne-tinged lifeline back into AFCON contention.
Reports emerging in the aftermath of the preliminary round suggest a number of Eritrean players have vanished after guiding the Red Sea Camels into the group stage of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers.
Seven players are said to have failed to return home following the second leg clash, where Eritrea sealed a 2-1 victory over Eswatini to progress 4-1 on aggregate. This battle was staged at Somhlolo National Stadium and the visitors reportedly left later on the same day.
However, they disappeared when they reached South Africa en route back. The circumstances surrounding their disappearance remain unclear at the time of writing, although indications point towards what has been described as a ‘defection’.
In football terms, defection refers to players or officials abandoning their national team during international travel, often in pursuit of asylum linked to political or socio-economic pressures in their home country.
Further reports indicate that only three of Eritrea’s locally based contingent ( Ablum Teklezgi, Nahom Tadesse and Rommel Abdu) returned home, leaving the squad significantly depleted and casting a long shadow over their participation in the next phase.
What had initially been a hard-fought and decisive triumph for Eritrea has now been overshadowed by uncertainty, with their place in the AFCON 2027 group stages hanging delicately in the balance.
Should Eritrea formally withdraw before the commencement of the group stage, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Organising Committee would be tasked with determining a suitable replacement.
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