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 A Sudanese Athlete Seeks Political Asylum in London
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Ahead of Olympic Games, a Sudanese Athlete Seeks Political Asylum in London
By RAVI SOMAIYA
Published: July 26, 2012
LONDON — Before the opening ceremony, before a drop of sweat was shed by any of the nearly 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from 206 nations, an African runner walked into a police station here and asked for political asylum, according to news reports confirmed Thursday by a government official.
The runner, a man reportedly in his 20s, is from the East African nation of Sudan, according to a government official who declined to be identified publicly because he was not allowed to discuss the case. Sudan, battered by years of brutal internal warfare, has sent only six athletes to the Olympics. The Sudan Olympic Committee did not respond to a message seeking comment.
The Olympic athletes were subjected to stringent background checks that included searches for criminal records and potential immigration issues, the official said. Competitors have visas that expire on a set date, the official said, and will be treated like anyone else if they overstay.
It is a keenly watched issue in the right-wing press here, which has criticized successive British governments for an asylum system it considers too lenient. Despite the most earnest precautions, though, athletes in international competitions have seized the opportunity to defect.
In August 1948, London was the scene of one of the earliest reported asylum requests by someone associated with the Olympic Games. Marie Provaznikova, 57, the leader of the Czechoslovakian women’s gymnastics team and one of the most popular women in her country, sought asylum in the United States rather than support a purge in the Sokol national fitness organization, of which she was a leader.
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, an Iraqi weight lifter, Raed Ahmed, ran from the athletes’ village into a waiting car and sought asylum from Saddam Hussein’s government. He was allowed to stay in the United States after he cited a fear of execution upon his return. Persistent rumors from Iraq suggested that Mr. Hussein’s son Uday used beatings and other torture to punish those who did not perform to his liking at international sporting events.
Before the 2008 Olympics, seven members of the Cuban soccer team sought asylum after a qualifying game against the United States in Florida. At the time, one of them, Yenier Bermudez, told The Miami Herald that the players were “feeling hopeful about our new lives.”
The entire Eritrean national soccer team fled during a 2009 competition in Kenya. Only a coach and an official emerged from the team’s plane when it returned home. It was the third time that players had failed to return, soccer officials said. Eritrean athletes are now asked to pay a bond before leaving the country for sporting events, the BBC reported.
Eritrea has 12 athletes competing at the London Olympics, according to the Games’ official Web site. Officials for the country’s Olympic Committee did not immediately respond to a message seeking information on any measures taken this year to ensure the team plane arrives home carrying everyone who had boarded for the trip here.
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