Five Cameroonian athletes have been reported missing from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Athletes’ Village in Australia, with suspicion they have fled with the intention not to return home.
Weightlifter Olivier Matam Matam and boxers Christian Ndzie Tsoye and Simplice Fotsala have been missing since earlier this week, while weightlifters Arcangeline Fouodji Sonkbou and Petit Minkoumba went missing on Tuesday.
All had competed except Tsoye, who failed to show up for his weigh-in for his 91kg quarter-final on Tuesday, granting his opponent a walk-over victory.
Queensland police have been notified of the athletes’ disappearance.
Cameroon team manager Victor Agbor Nso told Australian Broadcasting Corp it was unfortunate for the country and its international image.
“We have officially informed our hierarchy back home: The Ministry of Sports and the president of the National Olympic Committee of Cameroon. We have also laid formal complaint to the Australian police,” he said.
Australian Minister for Commonwealth Games Kate Jones said the Australian federal police were “keeping a watching brief on these athletes.”
“When an athlete comes to Australia to compete in a competition we expect them to front up on the field and compete, so we are disappointed about that,” she said.
Before the Games began, Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton warned that all athletes would be closely monitored to ensure they did not overstay their visas and returned home after competition ended.
“Our message to the 0.5 percent of people who might think they can overstay a visa or not act within the conditions of that visa, is that Australia has very tough laws and they need to abide by the laws,” Dutton said in January.
Cameroon faces entrenched development challenges and widespread poverty. In recent months, 15,000 anglophone separatists have been forced over the border into Nigeria after a crackdown on the campaign for an independent state of Ambazonia.
The country, particularly its northern region, is also vulnerable to food insecurity because of government corruption, poor infrastructure and persistent famines.
Athletes regularly abscond during major sporting events and many subsequently claim asylum. Most hold nationalities that are deemed high-risk by immigration authorities and find it impossible to get visas outside of exceptional events, such as major Games.
Athletes from Cameroon have fled from events before. Following the 2012 London Olympics, at least 21 athletes were reported missing, including seven from Cameroon,and four from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as nationals of Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Sudan and Ethiopia.
After the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, more than 40 athletes and officials overstayed or sought asylum in Australia, including from Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Cameroonian weightlifters Francois Etoundi and Simplice Ribouem were both granted refugee status and competed for Australia at the Games this year.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two