13 African athletes go missing at Commonwealth Games in Australia
13 African athletes go missing at Commonwealth Games in Australia Five more African athletes are allegedly vanished from the Commonwealth Games, organisers said on Thursday, after eight competitors from Cameroon were suspected of fleeing a day earlier. Athletes from Rwanda and Uganda were thought to have gone missing, organizers of the Gold Coast confirmed. "We're obviously looking at it very carefully," Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg told reporters. "We have a service to people who have legitimate visas to be in this country," he added. "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 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. "We obviously have been in close contact with Cameroon officials," he said. "We share their concern regarding obviously the safety, welfare, whereabouts of these athletes." Cameroon team manager Victor Agbor Nso told local media he had reported the matter to police on Wednesday. "They aren't going to game the system," he told local radio. "Australian Border Force officers will find these people (and) they'll be held in immigration detention until they can be deported." -PTC News
