10 Sri Lankans vanish in Birmingham, official says

Ten members of Sri Lanka’s Commonwealth Games contingent in Birmingham have disappeared in a suspected attempt to remain in Britain, a top sports official from the island nation told AFP on Sunday.

Sri Lanka has set an unwanted record in a major sporting event with the highest number of missing athletes at the 22nd Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. After the completion of the 11th day of the meet, 10 athletes are reportedly missing, with a few more set to join the wagon in the coming days, setting a huge black mark in Sri Lankan sporting history.

In fact, Sri Lanka has already set a record with the highest number of missing athletes from the South Asian region.

This is also the first time that Sri Lanka has recorded such a high number of missing athletes from a major sports event.

Suresh Subramaniam, President of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL), yesterday confirmed to the Daily Mirror that two judokas, two wrestlers, two beach volleyball players and four boxers have gone missing from the Sri Lankan contingent.

“We cannot do anything with this issue and the only solution is that we could inform the Commonwealth Games authorities,” Subramaniam revealed.

“I think the main reason for the disappearance is that all Sri Lankan athletes, officials, and media personnel were issued with a six-month visa,” Subramaniam added.

The significant feature of the missing athletes is that there are seven representing the Sri Lanka Army and three other athletes from the Sri Lanka Navy among them.

Several other countries have also reported missing athletes from the Commonwealth Games, but they are yet to confirm it officially.

Meanwhile, diver Dulanjan Fernando finished in 15th place overall with a score of 217.95 points while competing in the men’s 3m springboard event on Saturday.

Fernando’s highest point-earning dive was the 405C inward two and a half somersaults stuck but missed out on the final in this event.

After the completion of the 11th day of the meet, 10 athletes are reportedly missing, with a few more set to join the wagon in the coming days