Seven Cameroon athletes gone missing – organisers

Seven competitors from Cameroon have gone missing at the London Olympics and British police have been informed, a spokeswoman for Games organisers LOCOG confirmed Wednesday.

The Cameroon team informed LOCOG that the competitors had left the Athletes’ Village on the Olympic Park and asked for assistance in tracking them down, spokeswoman Jackie Brock-Doyle said.

“They have written to us to say that these athletes have left the village and left their accommodation and can we help,” she told journalists.

“So we have informed the Met (London’s Metropolitan Police) and we are going to do something.

“They have been reported as missing but they have visas to stay in this country until November, so right now they haven’t done anything wrong.”

The state daily Cameroon Tribune reported that the seven were five boxers, one swimmer and one woman football player.

The head of Cameroon’s Olympics delegation, David Ojong, was quoted as saying that “28 (delegation members) returned to Cameroon, 24 are still in the (Olympic) Village and seven have defected”.

The sports ministry of the west African country and its high commission in London have both declined to comment.

Cameroon team officials at the Olympics did not respond to requests for comment.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said he had no comment to make.

Cameroon has not won any medals at the London Games, which end on Sunday.