JOHANNESBURG, April 10 -- Only three of 10 local footballers in an Eritrea squad returned home after a 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, a Confederation of African Football (CAF) official told AFP on Wednesday.

The other seven are believed to have disappeared when the national team arrived in South Africa en route from Eswatini to Eritrea via Egypt, said the official, who requested anonymity.

"This incident is a mystery. Eritrea beat Eswatini on March 31 in Lobamba and no one seems certain what happened thereafter," he said.

"We believe all the players left Eswatini for South Africa. But when the travelling party landed in Cairo, seven players were missing."

A member of the Eritrean community in South Africa told AFP he had seen s...