CASABLANCA: When Sudan player Ammar Taifour first heard gunfire outside his hotel room, he shrugged it off and went back to sleep. He had a soccer match to play.
But hours later, gunfire erupted again and gunmen surrounded the hotel in Omdurman, central Sudan, trying to seize control of the area. Taifour, a 28-year-old American-Sudanese midfielder, didn’t realize the shots marked the beginning a brutal war that would claim tens of thousands of lives and displace millions.
“We saw them from the windows all around the hotel holding guns,” Taifour told The Associated Press at the Africa Cup of Nations this week. “They were shooting at army aircraft. It was completely unexpected.”
Taifour and his teammates, coaches and medical staff were trapped inside the hotel for more than two days, as food and water supplies ran low. They left only after the gunmen withdrew, and Taifour flew back to the United States, leaving his career in Sudan behind as he searched for a new team.
His experience mirrors that of other Sudanese players forced to flee the country, leaving family members behind in the war-torn African nation while attempting to pursue soccer careers at the highest level.
