Eight of the country's top footballers have 'disappeared' during a trip to Britain, plunging Zimbabwean soccer into disarray.
The players travelled to the northern city of Bradford 10 days ago for a friendly match. They were supposed to return to Harare last week but disappeared before boarding their plane, the official Herald newspaper said.
Football officials conceded the players - from premier league teams CAPS United and Highlanders - had probably decided to pursue 'a new life in England'.
'The men decided to stay behind in England despite giving us assurances that they would join the rest of the team at Heathrow on the way back home,' said CAPS United owner Twine Phiri.
Two officials who travelled with the teams also failed to return. The players' disappearance, with its uncanny resemblance to Cold War-era desertions of ballet dancers and tennis players from the Soviet bloc, is a huge embarrassment to Harare.
Although Britain is publicly reviled by President Robert Mugabe, many Zimbabweans dream of emigrating as soaring inflation and unemployment mean life is getting harder by the day.