KAMPALA, (Reuters) – Six Ugandan cricketers are  missing in Canada after playing in a qualifying tournament for next year’s World Cup, Ugandan cricket authorities said yesterday.

The boys were part of Uganda’s under 19 team which failed to qualify for the international tournament to be held in New Zealand next year.

Latimer Mukasa, chairman of the Uganda Cricket Association,  said the players, including their captain, disappeared last Saturday after winning their final match against the Netherlands by two wickets.

“The boys probably vanished between three and seven in the morning,” he told reporters. “They left all their kit bags and all of them just went with hand luggage.”
The players have valid visas until the end of September, Mukasa said. He did not speculate on their motives for absconding.

In 2007, two Ugandan players successfully sought asylum in Australia after winning a tournament.