Fifteen players in the Homeless World Cup soccer tournament, including athletes from Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, have sought asylum in Australia, news reports said yesterday.
The Australian Department of Immigration confirmed that 15 players in the event that Afghanistan won in Melbourne on Sunday had applied for “further visas,” but declined to state whether the players had formally sought asylum.
“As of Dec. 9, 15 applications for further visas have been lodged by participants of the Homeless World Cup,” a spokesman told reporters.
PHOTO: AFP
“We are, however, in no position to pass comment on what kind of visas those applications were for,” he added, citing reasons of confidentiality.
The Herald Sun in Melbourne reported that “at least” 15 players were seeking asylum in Australia, including eight players from Afghanistan and seven from Zimbabwe.
In addition, the entire Liberian women’s team was also believed to have missed flights out of the country after the tournament closed, while a Kenyan player was still missing, the Age newspaper reported.
The “active visas” for the more than 400 players from 56 teams who came to Melbourne for the event will run out in 10 days. Immigration officials said no players were currently in violation of their visa conditions.
Organizers of the event said they had seen reports of Homeless World Cup asylum seekers but could not confirm that players were seeking to stay.
“We are not across the process in any way and have no further information,” spokeswoman Natalie Sussman told reporters.
Some 15 African players went missing in Denmark after the previous event and that she expected there would be pleas for asylum in Australia, organizers said.
Victoria Premier John Brumby said in Melbourne that such asylum bids were to be expected after a major international event.
“It’s not surprising, people come here and they’ve come from difficult countries and very difficult backgrounds and they’re here in Australia and obviously we’ve got a great country,” he told reporters. “It’s not surprising then that some will apply for asylum.”
Forty athletes and officials sought asylum in Australia following the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, while 250 pilgrims applied for asylum after July’s World Youth Day festivities in Sydney.
Afghanistan beat Russia 5-4 to win the Homeless World Cup, an annual event aimed at raising awareness of the issue.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
RSS