Commonwealth Games 2018: Australian immigration officials ramp up search for eight Cameroonian athletes AWOL from athletes’ village
Team officials raised the alarm with police after five boxers and three weightlifters went missing but they have not yet committed a crime as they still have valid visas
AUSSIE immigration authorities are searching for eight Cameroonian athletes who have gone missing from the Commonwealth Games.
The three weightlifters and five boxers have been reported to the Queensland police by their own team officials.
It is not the first time Cameroon have had trouble keeping track of their athletes.
Seven of them went AWOL in London during the 2012 Olympics and never returned to their country.
Now their team is likely to return to Africa without a third of their most talented sportsmen and women on the plane.
Team spokesman Simon Molombe has described the missing seven as “deserters” and said: “The authorities are very disappointed with these people.
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“Some of them did not even compete before they went missing and our pious hope is that they come back to the village and return home with the other Cameroonian athletes.”
A statement later said: "The Cameroon Commonwealth team is sad to announce that eight of the 24 athletes they took to the XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast are missing from their respective rooms in the Games village.
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"These athletes left in three waves. First in the night of April 8 three athletes departed the village. Then on April 9 two others were declared missing and last night three others left their rooms."
The missing eight have been named as weightlifters Olivier Matam Matam, Petit Minkoumba and Arcangeline Fouodji Sankbou and boxers Simplice Fotsala, Christian Ndzie Tsoye, Arsene Foku, Ulrich Yombo and Christelle Ndiang.
But because all have Australian visas until May 15, no crime has yet been committed.
The Commonwealth Games Federation said the athletes "have the right to travel freely on their visas”, but admitted that they are monitoring the situation.
Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg said: "These athletes are guests here in Australia, they are still within their visas and they have the right to travel freely.
"Right now we are worried about safety and welfare of the athletes and we are taking this very seriously and monitoring the situation with team Cameroon."
Peter Beattie, the local organising committee chairman, added: "There is a system to deal with this and it will be dealt with."