Why Should Foreign Sports Personnel Be Allowed To Claim Asylum?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11731891/More-than-100-asylum-claims-from-Olympics-and-Commonwealth-games.html

If they are popular enough to be picked for their National Teams, what possible danger could they face in their own country?

[bazwillrun]

Lets guess..the majority from africa...well whoda thunk it eh !?

[retrocop]

I would like to see the numbers who claim asylum when the sporting events are held in other European countries.

[Gromit]

We seem to get the Olympics once every 60 years or so, so hopefuuly the problem won't arise for a while.

[Gromit]

52 claims were assessed and granted. Which seems extraordinarily high. Either the criteria is too easy, or athletes in danger train much harder so they can leave the country.

[retrocop]

I would suggest the former and not the latter.

[douglas9401]

Each case should be judged on it's merits.

Apparently if some were to return home they'd be for the high jump.

[campbellking]

Might depend how successful they were. Andres Escobar, the Colombian footballer was killed on his return from the 1994 World Cup, allegedly for scoring an own goal leading to his country's elimination. The North Korean football team were rumoured to have been publicly humiliated and their coach sent to work on a building site after their perceived failure at the World Cup (allegations refuted by the non-corrupt FIFA body).

[Old_Geezer]

I trust each claim is considered on its merits.

It does seem strange that athletes are in so much more danger than their fellow citizens. Maybe they created the danger by claiming asylum ?

[Zacs-Master]

OG, they're possibly not in any more danger. They just have the opportunity to claim asylum through their sporting career.

[Hypognosis]

@AOG

Accusing *Commonwealth* countries of persecution is, surely, a serious matter?

If the nature of the persecution is inconsistent with UK law (persecution of homosexuals occurs in both Muslim and Christian countries, for example) then surely suspending that country from future events, as a prelude to ejection from the Commonwealth would be an appropriate course of action? At least that removes the sporting pretext for the next batch, in four years' time.

[Peter Pedant]

Didnt the Czech marathon fella kick it all off in the 1956 olympics ?

( clearly he thought it was a runner )

[Hypognosis]

There is a logic trap there, divebuddy. If they really were being oppressed in their home country, surely this will have been extended to being dropped from the team and replaced with married or proven hetero athletes, no?

[EDDIE51]

The North Korean's had the answer to this problem. The entire families of their Olympic Team , Mothers, Fathers , children,grandchildren, grandparents were locked up in jail and told they would be executed as traitors if the athletes failed to return home after the games!
This was 2012 after most of the team claimed asylum after the 2008 games!

[TTG]

Sounds like I will be doing more overtime to make up for this.

[ukbod2015]

You would be if you were on the North Korean team and didnt win.

[Peter Pedant]

saddam's psychotic son, udam
locked up and tortured the Iraqi footie team because they failed to obey his orders ... and win

[Peter Pedant]

Emil Zatopek... but he wasnt gay