KAMPALA: Five Eritrean girls, featuring on the national soccer team in the ongoing Cecafa Women’s U-20 Championships in Uganda, have vanished from their hotel in the eastern city of Jinja.
The players disappeared this morning (November 2) from SunSet Hotel in Jinja where the team is being hosted for the regional tournament. The team was preparing to go for the today’s group matches at nearby Fufa Technical Centre, Njeru, which is the venue for the tournament.
In their opening games at the tournament, Eritrea lost to Tanzania (0-1) and Ethiopia (0-6) on October 30 and November 1 respectively.
In a statement issued by Cecafa Communications department about the incident, organisers said they are working with Jinja Police and Fufa, the local football governing body, to find the missing players.
This is not the first time Eritrean sportsmen and women have disappeared while on international duty in foreign countries, Uganda inclusive. In the early 2000s, half of the Eritrean national football team players vanished in Kampala during a Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament.