Police looking into reports of ‘missing’ athletes after Commonwealth Games
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Boxers from Uganda and Pakistan failed to return home after competing in the Commonwealth Games, which ended in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Aug 2.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Scottish police are investigating reports of missing foreign athletes, including boxers from Uganda and Pakistan, after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
- Four Ugandan boxers reportedly disappeared before their scheduled return, with one planning to seek asylum; a Pakistani boxer also missed their flight home.
- Such cases are common in recent Commonwealth Games, with similar incidents reported in Australia and Britain since 2014, involving many athletes seeking asylum.
AI generated
GLASGOW - Scottish police are investigating reports of foreign athletes, identified in the media as boxers from Uganda and Pakistan, who failed to return home after competing in the Commonwealth Games that ended in Glasgow on Aug 2.
“Police Scotland has received reports of several athletes who are unaccounted for,” a spokesperson said on Aug 4.
“Enquiries are ongoing to assess the circumstances, and early engagement is taking place with the Home Office.”
Uganda’s NBS Sport reported that four of the country’s six-member boxing team had gone missing ahead of the team’s scheduled return home on Aug 4 and one of them told the broadcaster they planned to seek asylum.
The Pakistan Today website said one of the country’s boxers had also failed to show up for a flight home on Aug 4.
Reports of missing athletes after Commonwealth Games have been common in recent editions, which have been hosted in Australia or Britain since Glasgow 2014.
In 2018, after the Gold Coast Games in Australia, authorities were seeking 50 athletes and officials still missing a month after competition ended, with another 190 seeking asylum.
Some 3,000 athletes from 74 nations attended the 11 days of the Glasgow Games. REUTERS
