A total of 20 individuals from an Ethiopian youth football team have disappeared in Gothenburg, Sweden, following their participation in the annual Gothia Cup. The group, which included both team members and accompanying adults, was reported missing on the day of the tournament's final. Swedish police are currently investigating the incident, which they suspect may be a case of voluntary illegal migration.
The Gothia Cup, also known as the World Youth Cup, hosted teams from 77 different nations this year, including four delegations from Ethiopia. According to tournament organizers, the group had been staying at a local school during the event. Fredrik Beckman, a press spokesperson for the Gothia Cup, expressed surprise at the development, noting that the organization had maintained a positive relationship with the team. As a precautionary measure, the tournament management filed a formal report with the police. Ten days after the conclusion of the event, the team remains missing.
Reports from the Expressen newspaper indicate that the organization received a final piece of correspondence from the team's contact person. In that message, the contact thanked the organizers for their consideration and suggested that the situation stemmed from a "communication problem." However, the email provided no details regarding the team's current whereabouts or whether they had returned to Ethiopia.
Authorities have confirmed that the group has not returned to their home country. Ellinor Halldin, representing the missing persons unit at the Swedish police's western region, stated that there is no evidence to suggest the individuals were victims of foul play or human smuggling. She emphasized that the police currently have no information on whether the group intends to remain in Sweden, noting that such assumptions would be speculative. While past tournaments have seen individual participants go missing for various reasons, Halldin noted that the scale of this disappearance is unprecedented for the Gothia Cup.
The police are currently coordinating with the Swedish Migration Agency, border police, and international authorities to locate the missing individuals. Officials expect to be notified if any of the group members attempt to cross a border or encounter authorities for other reasons. Investigators currently believe the individuals disappeared of their own accord and may gradually surface over time.
According to Swedish police, the hosts at a school where 20 Ethiopians connected to one of the teams were staying discovered on the day of the final that the team and several of the adults accompanying them had disappeared.
"There is no indication that anything illegal lies behind this, such as people smuggling or something similar," she told the Göteborgs Posten newspaper. "My experience is that they usually trickle in gradually in the end."
