OFFICIALS: 3 BOXERS MISSING FROM WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Chicago Tribune, IL
Associated Press
Oct 26 2007
CHICAGO – Three athletes who were in Chicago for the World Boxing
Championships have gone missing from the competition, organizers and
authorities said Thursday. It appears the two Ugandan boxers and one
Armenian boxer left their teams on purpose and were not the victims
of a crime, said Chicago police spokesman John Mirabelli. "Some of
them have been in phone contact with those that are nearest to them,"
Mirabelli said. "It appears they left voluntarily." Authorities did
not immediately release the boxers’ names, but Ugandan team manager
John Baptist Ntgete identified his missing athletes as team captain
Sharif Bogere and Phillip Adyak.
Bogere did not show up for weigh-in on Thursday morning for an
afternoon match, Ntgete said. "We didn’t expect him to let us down,"
Ntgete said. Coaches approached the local organizing committee
expressing concern over the whereabouts of their athletes, said
Richard Baker, spokesman for the International Boxing Association.
The teams were referred to Chicago police, he said. "It was just a
little bit of concern, it’s common courtesy (for boxing officials)
to assist the process," said Baker, who added officials were "not
overly concerned" for the boxers’ safety. Neither Baker nor Mirabelli
immediately knew when the boxers went missing. Police are conducting
a typical missing persons investigation, Mirabelli said. Chicago is
hoping to use the event as a boost in its bid for the 2016 Olympics.
The city got the championships in May after the event was pulled from
Moscow. So far the event has gone smoothly and the disappearances
were not considered the result of mistakes by organizers, Baker said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
