Pakistan and Uganda athletes ‘missing’ after Commonwealth Games

Police Scotland is probing reports of foreign athletes, believed to be boxers from Uganda and Pakistan, who have not returned home following their participation in the Commonwealth Games concluded in Glasgow on Sunday. A spokesperson for the force confirmed on Tuesday that multiple athletes are unaccounted for. The investigation aims to determine the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, with early discussions underway with the Home Office.

Uganda’s NBS Sport reported that four members of the six-strong boxing team were missing prior to their expected return on Tuesday, with one of them expressing intentions to seek asylum. According to Pakistan Today, one of the country’s boxers also failed to board his flight back home on Tuesday. Reports of missing athletes following the Commonwealth Games have been recurrent at recent editions, which have been held in Australia or Britain since Glasgow 2014.

In 2018, during the Games held in Australia, authorities were actively searching for 50 athletes and officials who remained missing a month after the competitions ended, alongside an additional 190 who sought asylum. The 2018 Glasgow Games saw an attendance of 3,000 athletes from 74 nations over an 11-day period.