Seven players from the Eritrean football squad that scored a historic victory in Eswatini last week have failed to return home, a source close to the team has told the BBC.

While some of their teammates flew back from Eswatini’s neighbour, South Africa, the seven are said to have absconded.

There have been several cases when Eritreans competing in various sports have not gone home after international fixtures in recent years.

Rights groups have described the government in Asmara as highly repressive – a charge which the authorities reject. Despite its small population, hundreds of thousands of Eritreans have sought asylum abroad.

The news of the players absconding will come as a blow to the team, which, following its 2-1 win in Eswatini and 4-1 victory on aggregate, was celebrating a return to the qualifying group stage for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years.

Only 10 of the 24-man squad were based in Eritrea and just three of those players, including team captain Ablelom Teklezghi, have now returned, sources in Asmara told BBC Tigrinya

While it is unclear where the missing players have gone, reports say some of them have been seen in South Africa.

Those who have absconded include goalkeeper Kubrom Solomon and veteran winger Medhanie Redie.

Eritrea’s state-owned media outlets have been unusually quiet on the victorious team’s return, which have in the past been accompanied by a big fanfare.

Sources say preparations were made for a similar reception but was cancelled following news of the disappearance of the players.

The spokesperson of Eritrea’s Sport and Culture Commission, who has been providing updates on social media about the recent success of the team, posted pictures of some of the returning players and staff in Egypt, where the Eritrean embassy and community members organised a reception for them.

They stopped in Cairo on the way back to Eritrea.

But the only players seen in those pictures were the ones who then went on to fly to Asmara.

Many Eritrean fans had been hoping that the victory over Eswatini would lead to a renaissance of Eritrean football, but for many Eritreans the latest news has a familiar ring.

Over the last two decades, the national team at different levels has been scarred by a series of events in which players, and even almost entire squads, have disappeared either before or after games abroad.

In 2019, seven players from the Eritrean under-20 side went missing after playing in the East African regional championship in Uganda.

In 2015, 10 senior squad players refused to return home after playing a World Cup qualifying match in Botswana.

Two years earlier, 15 players and the team doctor were granted asylum in Uganda after they absconded.

And in 2009 the entire senior team, apart from the coach and an official, failed to return home from Kenya.

[BBC]

The Artemis II astronauts are bound for Earth after conducting  a historic lunar fly by and witnessing a total solar eclipse from their spacecraft

Commander Reid Wiseman says the Orion spacecraft crew “saw sights that no human has ever seen” while pilot Victor Glover says there are “no adjectives” to describe what they observed

The spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth -252,756 miles [406.771km] – during the lunar fly-by. The crew had already broken the previous record for the furthest distance humans have travelled into space

The astronauts lost connection with Nasa while behind the Moon – the outage was expected and lasted around 40 minutes

“It is so great to hear from Earth again” said mission specialist Christina Koch as she broke the silence from the spacecraft

US President Donald Trump tells the astronauts that they have “made history and made all America really proud” – and invites them to the White House.

The astronauts are due to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the US at 20:07 eastern US time on Friday (01:07 BST Saturday)

[BBC]

Matheesha Pathirana and Wanidu Hasaranga are among 15 Sri Lankan players under central contracts yet to take their mandatory fitness tests, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has confirmed. Six others are understood to have failed at least one attempt, which means that of the 45 centrally-contracted players, currently only 24 have passed the test.

The reasons for those yet to take the test vary from injuries to logistical issues. The timelines for Hasaranga and Pathirana remain most pertinent, with the pair set to represent Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively in IPL 2026.

Hasaranga’s scenario looks the most bleak, with sources close to the player saying it’s unlikely he will play “anytime soon,” while a source at SLC said that “Hasaranga has not as yet requested for an NOC (No Objection Certificate).” The legspinner has been out of action since tearing his left hamstring in Sri Lanka’s  T20 World Cup opener against Ireland in February, and there is no clear idea on when he will undergo his fitness evaluation.