2 Sri Lankan Athletes, 1 Manager Go Missing At Commonwealth Games In UK

Mumbai: Three members of Sri Lanka’s contingent at the Commonwealth Games in the UK have disappeared. A judoka, a wrestler and the judo manager went missing.

Sri Lanka, facing a severe financial crunch, had selected a 161-man squad, including 51 officials, for the Games.

The Commonwealth Games Federation and Sri Lanka Cricket have funded athletes’ participation. Sri Lankan team’s press attache Gobinath Sivaraja confirmed to PTI that a judoka, a wrestler and a judo manager have gone missing.

“We have asked all athletes and officials to submit their passports to our respective venue officials in all the villages after the incident. The police are investigating and the three cannot cross the UK borders. What has happened is really unfortunate,” said Sivarjah.

There are three men’s and two women players in the Sri Lankan Judo team. According to reports, the missing judoka is a woman.

Judo and wrestling events take place at Coventry Arena, a 30-minute drive from Birmingham.

Sri Lankan athletes faced a tough time preparing for the Commonwealth Games as the country grapples with severe debt and an acute shortage of food and fuel.

In the last three months, members of the basketball team were forced to walk about 20 km to reach their training centres due to a lack of fuel.

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