Friday- 16th July, 2021: The Uganda Olympic Committee (UOC) says that one of its athletes is missing from a pre-training camp in Japan ahead of the Tokyo 2020 games.
A delegation which included coaches, boxers, a swimmer and a weightlifter have been preparing in Izumisano in Osaka since late June for the delayed Games, which begin on 23 July.
"The member is Julius Sekitoleko a weightlifter. It was anticipated that he would qualify for the games however he did not make the quota as informed by International Weightlifting Federation on 5 July 2021," a UOC statement explained.
"He together with his coach where (sic) due to return to Uganda on 20 July 2021.
"We, during our regular team briefings both in Uganda and in Japan emphasized inter alia the need to respect the immigration regulations of Japan and not opt to leave the camp without authoriazation.
"Our team in Izumisano is cooperating the Osaka authorities to try and locate Mr Sekitoleko. We shall keep you posted on any further developments in this regard."
It is not the first setback for the Ugandan delegation with two members being required to quarantine shortly after arriving in Japan.
