Since 1993, many athletes and officials from Sri Lanka have gone missing during international sports events in other countries. Hundreds of people have disappeared in at least 47 cases. In most situations, officials believe the missing individuals tried to move to the countries where they disappeared without permission. While people from other nations have also gone missing this way, this problem happens most often with Sri Lankan sports delegates. Now, Sri Lanka's sports leaders take steps to stop this from happening again, but these efforts sometimes fail.
The most well-known case occurred in 2004, when all 23 members of a group that called itself Sri Lanka's "national handball team" disappeared during a competition in Bavaria, Germany. They were last seen by taxi drivers who dropped them off in Munich. At the time, Sri Lanka did not have an official national handball team. The men tricked the German embassy in Sri Lanka into giving them travel visas by possibly using fake papers to prove they were part of an official team. Because of this, Germany stopped giving travel visas to Sri Lankan athletes, no matter which sport they played.
History
Disappearances among Sri Lankan athletes and sports managers during international events have become so common that officials now refer to them as "decampings." By 2021, Sri Lanka's sports organizations began taking steps to prevent more decampings. All athletes were required to sign a contract stating they would pay one million Sri Lankan rupees if they did not return from overseas events. They had to pay this amount back when they returned. Some team members also had to hand over their passports and other important papers to team officials during their trips. Even with these rules, some athletes still disappear. As of 2025, there have been at least 47 separate decampings, involving hundreds of people.
The most common reason given for these disappearances is that athletes are fleeing war or economic problems in Sri Lanka. They use international sporting events as a way to legally enter other countries, where they then stay illegally to find work. Between 1983 and 2009, Sri Lanka's northern region experienced a civil war between the government and a group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In the early 2020s, Sri Lanka faced its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948. A lack of foreign currency forced the government to limit the import of food, fuel, and medicine, leading to shortages. Schools closed, and people protested, but the government responded with force. In 2022, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was removed from office. The economic crisis continued under his successor, President Ranil Wickremesighe.
While Sri Lankan athletes are most affected by overseas disappearances, other countries in Africa and Asia have also experienced similar issues. Since 2000, at least eight international events have seen delegates from other nations disappear. Investigators believe many of these cases involve people leaving their countries to find new homes. This pattern began during the Cold War, when some athletes, called "Olympic defectors," disappeared during international competitions to escape their home countries and move to nations with opposite political systems. At that time, travel between capitalist and communist countries was difficult, so athletes used sports events as a way to leave.
Reported incidents
During a sports event in Canada in 1993, ten members of a Sri Lankan national team disappeared and were never found. The one remaining member returned to Sri Lanka.
The most well-known disappearance happened in 2004. On September 8, 21 men and their coach, claiming to be Sri Lanka’s national handball team, arrived in Bavaria, Germany. They were scheduled to compete in a ten-game tournament organized by the Asian-German Sports Exchange Program (AGSEP). German organizers believed the team was genuine because Sri Lankan teams had competed in other countries through AGSEP without issues for 15 years. All 23 men had valid visas allowing them to stay in Germany for a month. They stayed together in a hotel in Wittislingen and played several games, but lost all of them. Opponents said the team seemed to know "almost nothing" about handball rules.
On September 13, the team did not show up for breakfast. German organizers thought the men might have gotten lost during a jog, but found only clothes in their hotel room. A note said the team had gone to France.
None of the 23 men were ever found. German and French investigators looked into the case, and Germany’s border patrol was informed. A taxi driver said he and others had been paid to take the men to Munich’s train station. Investigators believed the team may have illegally entered Italy, where many Sri Lankan immigrants lived. This idea came from a player who called his mother in Sri Lanka, saying he was in Italy and would soon find work.
Sri Lankan officials said their country did not have a national handball team. They explained that handball is not played much in Sri Lanka and that no handball clubs exist. An AGSEP official said the organization would no longer allow Sri Lankan athletes to compete in handball tournaments. After the incident, Sri Lankan athletes stopped receiving travel visas to Germany, regardless of the sport. This happened because the team had tricked the German embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka, into believing they were a professional team. Heidi Jung, the German ambassador to Sri Lanka, said, "They presented documents, and the documents looked all right, so there were no reasons to say we can’t give you a visa." German immigration officials agreed, saying the papers "looked quite genuine." French investigators, however, were upset with Sri Lankan authorities for allowing the team to travel without proper documents.
Fox News, an American TV channel, falsely reported that the team included Tamil terrorists linked to the Sri Lankan civil war. AGSEP founder Dietmar Doering said only three members were Tamil.
The disappearances were shown in the 2008 film Machan, directed by Uberto Pasolini. The movie was praised and became popular in Sri Lanka. Filmmakers spoke with people in Sri Lanka who said the handball players were poor, lived in slums, and saw disappearing as a way to leave the country after failing to emigrate legally.
In 2007, a Sri Lankan triple jump coach named Gayan Malika disappeared during an international training event in Italy and was never found.
During the 2014 Asian Games in South Korea, a field hockey player and a beach volleyball player from Sri Lanka disappeared and were never found. Investigators thought they were trying to live illegally in the country. They were later banned from future international events.
In September 2021, Donald Indrawansa, a 45-year-old Sri Lankan wrestler, arrived in Oslo as the manager of his country’s team for the 2021 World Wrestling Championships. On October 4, the day before returning home, he disappeared without witnesses or signs of leaving. His team returned to Sri Lanka, and the Wrestling Federation said it would investigate. The federation’s president said Indrawansa likely used the trip to illegally move to Europe and criticized him for lacking sportsmanship.
In August 2022, 11 of the 160 to 177 Sri Lankan athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, disappeared. Most were last seen at the athletes’ village. Each had a valid six-month visa to enter the UK. On August 4, male wrestler Yoda Pedige Shanith Chathuranga, female judoka Chamila Dilani Marappulige, and her manager Tikiri Hannadige Duminda Asela De Silva disappeared. Chathuranga was last seen at a medical center after testing positive for COVID-19, while the others were last seen at the village. Marappulige disappeared after losing her first match.
Officials notified UK police, who began an investigation. Authorities prevented the three from leaving the UK. To stop more disappearances, officials asked all athletes to hand over their passports. Despite this, seven more people disappeared by August 7, though only boxer Vittalis Niklas was named by the press. In 2025, an unnamed photographer from the team was also reported missing. Five of the missing people had served in Sri Lanka’s military.
Reporters linked the disappearances to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. Sri Lanka Cricket offered to pay 20 million rupees for the team’s expenses. The National Olympic Committee said it would send two staff members to monitor the village for theft or disappearances. Investigators thought the missing athletes may have tried to move to the UK illegally.
Police later found Chathuranga, Marappulige, and De Silva. No charges were filed because they had valid visas and followed local laws. Two of them spoke to police, but their names were not shared. Officials returned the athletes’ passports at police request. In November 2022, West Midlands Police ended their investigation, stating that those missing were either found or the cases were closed because they were no longer believed to be missing. No updates on the athletes’ locations were given. In 2025, the Sri Lankan government began…