A Ugandan weightlifter has been transported home from a pre-Olympics training in western Japan, just hours before the Games officially begin.
CID Spokesperson Charles Twino said Julius Ssekitoleko is now being held at Uganda police headquarters to establish whether or not he committed a crime.
He left the camp a week ago and was later discovered buying a train ticket by authorities.
Ssekitoleko’s mother, pregnant wife, and government officials who had travelled to Uganda’s Entebbe airport to receive him on Friday morning were not able to do so.
The athlete is being “rehabilitated,” according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The government promised to “assist him in understanding how such acts of misbehaviour cannot only damage him as an athlete, but also other athletes in the sports sector and the nation at large,” according to the statement.
Ssekitoleko had left a note claiming he wanted to stay in Japan and work before he vanished.
