Several athletes have disappeared after competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, failing to return home with the rest of their teams amid reports that some intend to seek asylum.
Police Scotland said it had received reports of a number of athletes who remained “unaccounted for” after the Games, which concluded on August 2 following 11 days of competition.
According to sports website NBS Sport, four members of Uganda’s boxing team failed to board their flight home.
One member of the team reportedly told the outlet that the athletes intended to seek asylum in Scotland.
The missing Ugandan boxers were identified as Nuhu Batte, Angel Katushabe, Ibrahim Kemis and Emily Nakalema.
NBS Sport reported that it spoke with one of the missing boxers, who said the group decided to remain in Scotland to pursue better training facilities and greater opportunities to develop their boxing careers.
The boxer appealed to Ugandans for understanding and urged them not to judge their decision.
A spokesperson for Team Uganda told BBC Scotland News yesterday that the team had no comment on the matter.
Pakistan also reported that boxer Qudrat Ullah failed to return with the rest of the country’s team.
Officials said he was not found in his room when they went to search for him before the team’s departure.
The latest disappearances are reminiscent of previous Commonwealth Games, including the 2014 edition in Glasgow, when dozens of athletes either went missing after the competition or later sought asylum.
Under the Glasgow 2026 length-of-stay policy, athletes were expected to vacate the Games accommodation within two nights of completing their respective events.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, two Ugandan rugby players disappeared after the competition and were later found playing for a local rugby club in Cardiff.
One of the players, Philip Pariyo, was later sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of raping a woman in Cardiff.
Another athlete, Cameroonian weightlifter Cyrille Tchatchet II, also disappeared after the 2014 Games in a bid to escape his home country.
Tchatchet, who finished fifth in 2014, returned to the Commonwealth Games in 2026 and won a silver medal.
The UK Home Office is understood to carry out enhanced checks on participants before major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games, while working with event organisers to strengthen controls on entry into the country.
Any asylum applications submitted by athletes, authorities said, would be considered on their individual merits and assessed based on the facts of each case and the available evidence.