{Two members of the Eritrean national team have disappeared in Kenya while playing in a regional tournament, a senior regional football official said, raising suspicions the pair will seek asylum in the east African country.
\n}<\/p>\n
It is not the first time players from the national squad have defected abroad, seeking to escape one of the world’s most repressive states that is ruled by a reclusive president.<\/p>\n
Last December, 17 players and the team doctor claimed asylum in Uganda, eighteen months after 13 players from an Eritrean club side sought refuge in Tanzania. In 2009, a dozen members of the national team disappeared in Kenya.<\/p>\n
“This is an unfortunate incident happening again and it is causing a lot of concern to the East and Central Africa football officials,” Nicholas Musonye, secretary general of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA), told Reuters.<\/p>\n
The two men, who have yet to be identified, failed to return to their hotel on Saturday after watching another match, Musonye said.<\/p>\n
The United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay last year accused the Asmara government of meting out summary executions, torture and detaining thousands of political prisoners.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Eritreans try to flee the Red Sea state every year and many die making perilous sea-crossings in a desperate bid to reach Europe.<\/p>\n
Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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