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Number of missing African athletes at the Common wealth games in Australia jump to 13
African athletes disappearing at the on-going Australian Commonwealth Games have increased to 13, with five more from Uganda and Rwanda also missing.
Initially, Eight competitors from Cameroon were suspected to have fled before the confirmation today that athletes from Rwanda and Uganda have also gone into the thin air.
The number of the missing athletes may even go higher as organisers of the game in Gold Coast verify the whereabouts of two squash players from Sierra Leone. “We’re obviously looking at it very carefully,” Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg said.
“We have a service to people who have legitimate visas to be in this country. Until it becomes a true issue and somebody has outstayed their visa, or have formally applied for asylum, we just need to continue to monitor the situations. The focus now is to support teams in trying to track down the athletes who are missing” he added.
More than 100 athletes overstayed their visas at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Athlete visas for the Commonwealth Games expire on May 15, Grevemberg said. Eight athletes from conflict-hit Cameroon one third of the central African country’s 24-strong team were said to be missing from the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday, sparking an Australian Border Force manhunt.