Commonwealth Games athletes ‘go ON THE RUN’, police hunt Cameroon ‘deserters’

“It’s obviously disappointing that some of the athletes who’ve come didn’t compete as they were scheduled to compete”, he said.

The Cameroon team’s press agent Simon Molombe told news.com.au the players “just left in the night” and there were no leads on the missing athletes on Thursday morning.

After two Indian athletes were expelled and five indigenous protesters arrested, peerless South African Caster Semenya returned the spotlight to competition with a glorious gold at the Commonwealth Games.

Nso said the first three athletes left on Sunday night, with two others declared missing on Monday and a further three leaving the village on Tuesday night.

A spokesman for the Australian Border Force said the federal government was working closely with the Games organising committee and global stakeholders to ensure officials and athletes were aware of their visa responsibilities.

Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg confirmed in a statement that Australian authorities are now searching for “one Rwandan and two Ugandan accredited delegates not present in the village”. “I don’t think they will be back“, Cameroon’s Molombe told CNN Sport, confirming their disappearance had been reported to Australian police.

Organisers on the Gold Coast say the other missing athletes are from Uganda, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and Ghana.

This was not the first time athletes from the small African nation had gone missing at an global sporting event.

Athlete visas for the Commonwealth Games expire on May 15, Grevemberg said.

Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (GOLDOC) chairman Peter Beattie said competitors should follow visa regulations.

Commonwealth Games Officials named the AWOL athletes as lifters Olivier Matam, Arcangeline Fouodji Sonkbou and Petit Minkoumba.

He said they were “taking the mickey”.

Nso said team officials had notified Australian police.

I’m OK. We have great team spirit and the guys have been very supportive and I wanted to do my best for them.

Its a bit of an embarrassment for the countries to send out athletes and for them to go missing like this.

Beattie, a former Queensland state premier, said the authorities had mechanisms in place to deal with the situation if the athletes overstay their visas.

At London 2012, seven Cameroon athletes disappeared during the Olympics.