At least seven Eritrea football players who participated in the recently concluded CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup tournament in Uganda have been reported missing.
Eritrea enjoyed a decent campaign during the regional showpiece, reaching the competition's finals where they lost to hosts Uganda Cranes.
The Red Sea Boys hammered former champions Kenya 4-1 in the semis, to book a date with Uganda in the finals played on Thursday, December 19.
However, about seven Eritrea squad players are now said to have missed their flight back home and cannot be traced.
According to Goal citing Uganda media outlets, Robel Kidane, Yosief Mebrahtu, Filmon Semere, Abel Ogbay, Ismail Jahar, Isias Abraham, and Eyob Girmay were not part of the contingent that jetted back to Asmara.
Eritrean Football Association has since confirmed the news of the disappearance of the players through their social media platforms.
Incidences of Eritrean players and athletes taking advantage of foreign trips to run away in an attempt to seek asylum have been on the rise in the recent past.
Two months ago, at least five U-20 players disappeared from their hotel room during a youth tournament hosted in Jinja.
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