March 31 – Eritrea have pulled out of the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco for no apparent reason. They had been due to face South Sudan in the first round of the preliminary phase over two legs in April.
South Sudan, entering the competition for the first time, will now go though to the preliminary phase second round.
It is believed recent defections by Eritrean players may have prompted the withdrawal. Seventeen players from the Eritrean squad, plus the team doctor, absconded at the 2012 East and Central Africa Senior Challenge Cup in Uganda.
And in 2011, 13 Eritrean players sought asylum in Tanzania after the same tournament, while 12 members of the Eritrea squad disappeared and sought asylum in Kenya during the regional tournament in 2009.
According to a United Nations report, between 2,000 and 3,000 Eritreans flee the small east African country every month.
President Isaias Afewerki has ruled the one-party Horn of Africa country ever since independence from Ethiopia 21 years ago.
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