Five young players from TP Mazembe fled during a friendly under-17 tournament in Italy. The Ravens of Lubumbashi officially communicated on this matter on Friday.
Surreal scene in Italy. Coming out of a defeat against Latina in the Lazio Cup (0-2), five players from the TP Mazembe U17 team fled. At first, four elements discreetly left the base camp of the young Ravens. Indeed, during a break granted between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., the four deserters passed through an emergency exit from the hotel. Having learned of the escape of his elements, the club officials from Lubumbashi (DR Congo) proceeded to a new round of security screws, actively monitoring the entrances and exits of the building.
“Several people started to watch the aisles of the hotel and spent sleepless nights”, revealed an anonymous source quoted by the Congolese publication. And yet, a fifth thief will manage to escape their vigilance and escape through another emergency door, at dawn, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., reports the media FootRDC
.
“These departures destabilized the group for us”
Decimated by the new packages of the five runaways, in particular Christ KIWONGI, Meschack MBAYA, Gueazy BISALU, Hippolyte MULAMBA and Medo KAZADI, who were added to those of many injured, the formation trained by Jean-Claude Loboko will bow heavily in the quarters final against Ukrainian FC Ruh Lviv (6-0 defeat). “These departures destabilized the group for us”reacted a member of the team on condition of anonymity.
May 26, 2023
COMMUNICATED
There #KFA returns from Italy 🇮🇹 after an honorable participation in the #LazioCup, an international tournament bringing together the U17s and other categories. The group returned to Lubumbashi but not in full. Explanations. 👇👇👇— TP Mazembe (@TPMazembe) May 26, 2023
In a press release published this Friday, TP Mazembe condemned this reprehensible act of the five “escapees” who are already “hunted by the Italian police”.
“The club will implement all the means at its disposal to discourage these five Academicians who have surely received external logistical support from people outside the country) in order to organize this flightcan we read in the official note.
The club will contact the European football authorities to identify these players, in the event that they fraudulently attempt to be registered in one (or more) UEFA team(s). »
