Eight Cameroonian athletes have gone missing from the Commonwealth Games athlete’s village, with officials believing they have fled with the goal of not returning home.
Cameroon’s team manager Victor Agbor Nso on Wednesday declared six men and two women missing, from 40 Cameroonian athletes at the games.
In a statement, he said he is “sad to announce” that the eight athletes “are missing from their respective rooms in the Games village”
Cameroon state broadcaster CRTV named some of the boxers and weightlifters who had “irregularly” left the Athletes’ Village, some before competing in their scheduled events, as Olivier Matam, Minkoumba Petit David, Arcangeline Fouodji Sonkbou, Ndzie Tchoyi Christian and Fotsala Simplice.
Commonwealth Games organisers earlier said the disappearance of the athletes was being monitored but was not yet an issue for authorities.
By the end of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, official reports say more than 40 athletes, a majority from African nations, overstayed their visas.
The number dropped to a little over 100 athletes confirmed to have absconded after the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Rwanda’s athletes were in March 2018, cautioned by the Sports and Culture Minister, Julienne Uwacu during a send-off event, against fleeing while serving their nation.
PHOTO CREDIT : Mark Kolbe/ Getty images
