Mayor of small Aussie town that hosted missing Cameroon athletes says team were ‘together the whole time’

A SMALL rural town is in the spotlight after a connection emerged between the missing athletes from Cameroon.

THE mayor of the rural Australian town that hosted the missing Cameroonian athletes has described their movements in the lead up to their mysterious disappearance.

Games officials appear clueless over the whereabouts of one-third of the Cameroon team after eight of its 24 members walked out of the athletes’ village, never to return again.

Officials said the athletes left in “three waves”. The first round of missing athletes were discovered on Sunday when three of the team “departed the village”. On Monday night, another two were declared missing, and finally, on Tuesday, three others left their room.

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.

He told news.com.au he “doesn’t think they’ll come back”.

Statement from team Cameroon on eight missing athletes. #GC2018 https://t.co/N9Tm6a6hyV via @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/5VkJDevtbE

— Matt Young (@MattYoung) April 11, 2018

“They took away everything, if they left a message we would have looked for them already. We have no idea which direction they headed in,” Mr Molombe said.

Meanwhile, the small town of Warwick, 130km southwest of Brisbane, which hosted the athletes, has been thrust in the spotlight.

“They were together as a team the whole time, they trained together, they had some interaction with the public but it was never long enough,” Mayor Tracy Dobie told news.com.au.

The team arrived in Warwick two weeks before the beginning of the Commonwealth Games and slept in the dormitory of a former boarding school “overseen by their team management”.

“They did not have free reign to be out and about in the community at all hours of the day and night. It wasn’t the way their training or their training camp was conducted.

“They left our region as a team to go and compete in the Commonwealth Games.”

Cr Dobie said there was no indication they were unhappy and “they were great ambassadors for their country, there was no indication at any time that there was an issue with individuals”.

She said that while the athletes spent the majority of their time training, they made use of local facilities, played against local teams and were excited to see a kangaroo in the wild.

“They were here to train and they stuck to their training programs. These are international athletes who have very strict training programs and they undertook their training as was expected,” Cr Dobie said.

She said the team was bilingual, speaking English and French.

Cameroon's David Petit Minkoumba makes a somersault soon after a successful lift in Men's 94Kg Weightlifting final during the Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, He disappeared soon after. Picture: Manish Swarup

Warwick Courthouse.

“The team was here in Warwick training, but the reality is we are three hours away from the Gold Coast, it is quite a trip,” Cr Dobie told news.com.au.

“I appreciate that it’s not unimaginable, certainly you could hire a car and drive here, but if that was the case someone would know about it.

“There’s no reason why they couldn’t have returned here, but to do that without it being obvious to someone, they would have had to either arrange for transport prior to leaving Warwick and I don’t believe the team was in communication with members of our public for long enough to develop that sort of relationship.”

Games officials are stumped over the whereabouts of the Cameroonian athletes, five who are boxers and three who are weightlifters.

The matter has prompted Australia’s Border Force to monitor the situation.

The missing athletes are boxers Simplice Fotsala, Arsene Fokou Fosso, Christian Ndzie Tsoye, Ulrich Rodrigue Yombo and Christelle Aurore Ndiang. Weightlifters Olivier Heracles Matam Matam, Petit David Minkoumba and Arcangeline Sonkbou Fouodji are also among the missing.

Team Cameroon’s Chef de Mission, Victor Agbor Nso said the Cameroon team has filed an official complaint with Australian police.

“We have officially informed our hierarchy back home: the Ministry of Sports and the president of the National Olympic Committee of Cameroon,” he said.

“We have also laid a formal complaint to the Australian police.”

A Queensland Police spokesman told news.com.au that authorities are not on the lookout for the athletes because “they haven’t committed any offence” and the athletes still hold a valid visa.

Felix Thierry Bogmis of Cameroon jumps for a shot at the hoop against England at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on April 7, 2018. The basketball team have reportedly flown home to Cameroon. Picture: Michael Chambers

Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg stressed the athletes remain guests in Australia despite their disappearance.

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

“These athletes are guests here in Australia at this time. They’re still within their visas. They have the right to travel freely, but this is obviously an issue that team Cameroon is monitoring closely and until it becomes a real issue in terms of visas and so forth we would obviously have to take that very seriously.”

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton took the extraordinary step of warning athletes against trying to overstay their visas.

The Sydney 2000 Olympics, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games and London 2012 Olympics were hit by stories of athletes overstaying their visas. In some cases athletes applied for asylum.

The Cameroonian athletes on the Gold Coast also have the right to apply for asylum.

“The Australian Government has been working closely with the organising committee and international stakeholders to ensure Commonwealth Games officials and athletes are aware of their visa responsibilities,” a spokesperson for the Australian Border Force told news.com.au.

“Like other visitors to Australia, Commonwealth Games visitors who hold a valid visa, are free to enjoy their stay in Australia.

“However, Commonwealth Games visitors who do not meet their visa requirements can expect to have their visas cancelled.

“The Department does not comment on individual cases.”

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