It has been a week since the curtain came down on the Glasgow Commonwealth Games but the mystery surrounding the missing four Ugandan boxers and one from Pakistan is nowhere near a resolution.
Ibrahim Kemis, Nuhu Batte, Emily Nakalema, Angel Katushabe and Qudrat Ullah were supposed to fly back home after the conclusion of the CWG, but were nowhere to be found when it was time to leave.
One of the Ugandan athletes reportedly told a news website back home that the four missing pugislists were seeking asylum in the UK to avail better training facilities but according to The Guardian, they are no longer in Scotland.
Police Scotland said it had received reports of athletes not returning home and that it was working with the Home Office to assess the situation.
A Glasgow 2026 spokesperson said the organisers were working closely with authorities – including Police Scotland, Border Force and UK Visas & Immigration – to ensure that 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories could safely and securely participate, the newspaper reported.
The Ugandan chef de mission said there were no grounds for any members of his delegation staying back in the UK after the Games.
“It’s nothing political, it’s nothing to do with gender or something [like that] – I have absolutely no idea why they would be doing that,” Godwin Kayangwe said, before expressing hope that they would make the “right decision” and return to their country.
Acording to The Guardian, understands the four Ugandans were initially taken in by a boxing gym in Glasgow. The owner of the gym did not respond to queries about the missing boxers.
Athletes not going home after a big event is not a new phenomenon. It is estimated that 27 people did not leave after the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002, 66 after Glasgow 2014, and 17 after Birmingham in 2022. After the 2012 Olympics in London too, several athletes chose to stay. Tribunal decisions from asylum applications show a number of people, including athletes from Cameroon and Sudan, and the Ethiopian Olympic flag-bearer, all attempted to claim asylum in the UK, the report said.