Soccer-After defections, Eritrea turns to diaspora for team to play in qualifiers

Eritrea will continue participating in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers despite seven of their ‌players defecting when they last played a match in March, but now intend to field a team made up of players drawn from the diaspora.

The Red Sea state, largely closed off to the rest of the world and often described as a "hermit" country, has seen ‌many sportspeople defect over the last two decades to avoid indefinite military conscription and severe repression. Fear of recurring defections has historically ‌led Eritrea to eschew participation in both the World Cup and Cup of Nations qualifiers, but they had a change of heart this year, only for seven players to go missing after they completed a 4-1 aggregate triumph over Eswatini to get through the Cup of Nations preliminary round and book a place ⁠in the ​group phase of the qualifiers for ⁠next year’s finals in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Eritrea will face Kenya in Nairobi in their opening Group D match on Saturday and host South Africa on ⁠September 30, with the match being played in Cairo because they do not have adequate facilities. Eritrea’s squad for the two games features only three locally ​based players – those who returned home from the game in Eswatini. The seven who defected have since applied for political ⁠asylum in South Africa, exile groups told Reuters.

Eritrean authorities have instructed the football association to now focus on selecting dual nationals based abroad, the investigative newsletter Africa ⁠Intelligence ​reported last week. Their squad for the opening two group games draws 27 players from clubs in 13 different countries, many of them born abroad to Eritrean parents. A total of 14 have been called up for the first time.

Hammarby midfielder Tesfaldet Tekie, who ⁠has a senior cap for Sweden, is among those listed. He was previously called up in March but did not travel ⁠for the two-legged tie against Eswatini. Victory ⁠over Eswatini proved a surprise success, considering Eritrea had not played an international match for six years and did not even have a ranking.

Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki since independence ‌in 1993, and ‌human rights groups have repeatedly described his government as repressive.