Four Ugandan boxers vanished from Glasgow this week, leaving their team in disarray and a familiar puzzle for UK authorities. Ibrahim Kemis, Emily Nakalema, Angel Katushabe, and team captain Nuhu Batte failed to board their return flight on Tuesday. Only two of the six-member team went home after the Commonwealth Games.
Reports suggested the athletes planned to claim asylum in the UK, seeking superior training facilities. This claim puzzled Godwin Kayangwe, the Ugandan team’s chef de mission. He told the BBC he had “absolutely no idea” why they would seek asylum. “It’s nothing political, it’s nothing to do with gender or something,” Kayangwe stated. Their phones then went silent, a breach of team camp rules.
Initial reports indicated the foursome found refuge at a Glasgow boxing gym. However, they are reportedly no longer in Scotland, according to The Guardian. The gym owner offered no comment on their whereabouts. Gossip in the boxing world suggests “something very, very suspicious” is afoot, with rumours of payments to a Scottish coach, according to one unnamed boxing insider.
Another athlete, Pakistani boxer Qudratullah, also disappeared from his team flight home. Police Scotland confirmed receiving reports of athletes not returning. They are working with the Home Office to assess the situation. A Glasgow 2026 spokesperson cited cooperation with Border Force and UK Visas & Immigration. This is a recurring issue.
The Home Office conducts enhanced checks for major UK sporting events due to its prevalence. An estimated 27 people stayed after the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. Glasgow 2014 saw 66 disappear, and 17 after Birmingham in 2022. Boxing commentator Pete Carvill highlighted the temptation of more lucrative careers abroad.
Many defectors, however, fail to capitalise on the chance, Carvill noted. They abandon amateur programme discipline, often facing “lifestyle issues” and exploitation. Some who stay face legal woes. Philip Pariyo, a Ugandan rugby player seeking asylum after Glasgow 2014, was jailed for rape in Cardiff last year. Pakistani boxer Nazeer Ullah Khan faced conviction for harassment after the 2022 Birmingham Games.
Yet, success stories also emerge. Weynay Ghebresilasie, an Eritrean-born asylum seeker from the 2012 Olympics, became Scotland’s fastest man at this year’s London Marathon. Cyrille Tchatchet, a Cameroonian weightlifter, won silver for Team GB last week, twelve years after his own disappearance.
Tchatchet vanished after the 2014 Games, sleeping rough before gaining refugee status in 2016. He recalled telling his mother of having “no place to go.” Now a West Midlands nurse, he expressed pride in representing England in Glasgow. The UK remains a beacon of hope, despite varied outcomes for those who seek its shores.
