CHENNAI: In an interesting turn of event, a Pakistani boxer slipped out of the hotel the team was staying during the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. This has come to light after the Games and according to reports in the media, he simply vanished.
According to reports from Karachi, boxer Qudratullah slipped away from the team hotel at the end Games in Glasgow. This has put the scanner back on the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) that has faced such situation earlier as well.
It was not limited to Pakistan national team. Even a few Ugandan boxers went missing after the Sunday closing ceremony. There have been occasions when athletes from the sub-continent including India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh went missing after Games.
According to the Ugandan website, four national team athletes who competed in boxing at the CWG have gone missing in Scotland after the games ended. This is not an isolated incident. There have been multiple cases in the past when athletes from African and Asian nations prefer to ‘stay’ back especially in Australia and the United Kingdom rather than going back to their countries. The number, according to a website, could run into hundreds by now. According to ABC, there were about 100 alone in Gold Coast that include players, officials and other office staff.
Reports suggest that a reliable source close to the Pakistan Olympic Association said on Tuesday that Qudratullah after competing in his weight division in the CWG vanished from the team hotel. "The interesting thing is Qudratullah disappeared despite his passport being with the team manager," the source had said. In the 2022 Birmingham Games, two boxers ran away from the hotel. According to reports, three Sri Lanka athletes -- a wrestler, a judoka, and a judo coach -- disappeared from one of the CWG villages housing athletes and officials.
Reports also say that during the World Olympic Qualifiers in Italy in 2024, Asian gold medallist boxer Zohaib Rasheed stole his roommate’s foreign currency and valuables and vanished in Busto Arsizio town.