Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu's club team-mate Molla Wague was a guest at the Radisson Blu hotel in the Mali capital of Bamako two days before terrorists took hostages and killed more than 20 people.
The Udinese defender was in Africa to represent the Eagles as they defeated Botswana 3-2 on aggregate to progress to the next round of African qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.
Wague was staying at the luxury hotel in Bamako until Wednesday when he flew back to Udine, only to learn that gunman had taken over 170 people hostage on Friday.
“I was at the Radisson Blu hotel until Wednesday before taking a flight back to Friuli,” the 24-year-old told local Udine newspaper Messaggero Veneto.
“The destination is a risky place for foreigners to visit because of the rebels from the north, the same ones that attack the hotel last week.
“Some semblance of normalcy must return even though it is difficult to overcome the violence of people like this.”
The former Caen player is one of twelve children all brought up as muslims and he rejects any suggestion that his religion condones the actions of the Islamist terrorists.
“Those who kill in the name of our religion are crooks who manipulate the scripture wrongly to suit their own murderous agenda,” Wague stated.
“My family live in the Saint-Denis area close to where the police raids on the ISIS terrorists happened. I immediately called home and calmed down after speaking with them.”