Sports Burundi
Ten handball players disappeared at the World Cup in Croatia
Status: 10:53 a.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
A large part of the Burundian national team disappeared during the U19 Handball World Championship in Croatia
Quelle: Bongarts/Getty Images/Christof Koepsel
A majority of Burundi U19 handball team is wanted. The ten players are supposed to be playing at the World Cup in Croatia. Now the local police authorities are looking for the African athletes.
Almost the entire Burundi U19 handball team has been missing since Sunday afternoon. The team had traveled to Croatia for the World Cup and was staying in a hotel in Rijeka, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. But ahead of the final games against Baharain and New Zealand, ten Burundian players disappeared without a trace, leaving only three team-mates behind.
“Measures are being taken to locate the missing handball players and establish all relevant facts and circumstances of their disappearance,” reported the Primorje-Gorski Kotar Police Department. Although each player had a mobile phone with them, all attempts to contact them failed.
Last Thursday, the young handball players were supposed to play against Bahrain in a placement game. By that time the Burundians had already disappeared, so the game was scored 10-0 for Bahrain. Burundi’s game against New Zealand on Friday also ended without a fight with the same result.
Burundi’s federation president asks for help
It is still unclear why the young men suddenly disappeared. However, there is a suspicion that the young men fled to apply for political asylum in a European country. The so-called “Balkan route” is one of the routes to Europe most frequently used by illegal immigrants. Croatia has been part of the Schengen area since January 1, 2023, so there are no longer any border controls.
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The Corriere della Serra also mentioned that there are some French-speaking communities in Burundi. A flight to France is therefore not out of the question. “Whoever has information can help us find our boys,” said Burundian FA President Dauphine Nicobamia for help.
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Burundi’s U19 team had lost all their matches by the time of their disappearance. 16:62 against Sweden, 24:46 against Iran and 26:33 against the USA. After the players disappeared, Burundi was permanently banned from the tournament.
