Sunday September 25, 2005
Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria, and Denis Campbel
Observer
British immigration officials launched a nationwide hunt this weekend after eight Zimbabwean footballers vanished following an exhibition match in Yorkshire.
The players, some of them big stars at home, did not board their flights back to Harare in the days after the game in Bradford. 'I can confirm that we are worried that some players and officials, who did not return on their scheduled flights, have actually joined those in the diaspora,' said an official of the Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa).
Six of the players are from Caps United, Zimbabwe's champions, and the other two from their rivals Highlanders FC, who played each other at Bradford's Odsal Stadium last Saturday. Several Caps personnel absconded soon after the match, while the Highlanders pair - goalkeeper Luckson Mutanga and defender Dalisizwe Dhlamini - checked in their luggage at Heathrow last Thursday, then melted into the crowd.
Caps United team manager Farai Jere said: 'It is a pity that these players might have decided to destroy their careers by pursuing a new life in England.'
Two Caps officials joined the six players in deciding to stay in the UK. The state-controlled Herald newspaper in Harare yesterday described the players' defection as 'one of the biggest crises to hit the country's battered national sporting discipline'.
It accused Zifa of allowing a diplomatic gaffe, saying: 'Imagine the bad blood now between Zifa and the British embassy, who will feel that they were duped by this association that these people were going on a real football trip.'
The Home Office said the immigration service would 'take swift steps to identify, locate and remove' any of the football party who had not honoured their visas.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
