DAR ES SALAAM, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian sports authorities said on Tuesday they were yet to receive any information on the whereabouts of Fathiya Pazi who disappeared in Gold Coast, Australia, last month.
Pazi, a young Tanzanian female tennis player, was among 13 African players who went missing at the end of the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, said the sports authorities.
Media reports from Australia said a number of the athletes who had disappeared resurfaced, seeking asylum status in Australia.
Yusuph Singo, Sports Development Director in the Ministry of Information, Youth, Culture and Sports, said that they were yet to get any information from Australia and he believed that security organs there were still searching for her.
Singo, who was the head of the delegation of Tanzanian athletes to the Commonwealth Games, said they have made some efforts in trying to find Fathiya by contacting her father, who said that he knew nothing about the matter.
"The government has also contacted her mother's family, but the family has denied knowing anything about the matter," said Singo.
"We are yet to be informed of the matter. I cannot say that Fathiya is among the athletes who resurfaced and sought asylum status in Australia. Let's wait and see what will happen," said Singo.
Media in Australia had reported that the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) group in Sydney said it had received enquiries from several of them but declined to reveal the exact number or the countries of origin.
"Every person who seeks asylum in Australia should be subject to the same thorough investigation of their claims, be they students, visitors, workers or athletes," RACS solicitor Sarah Dale said in a statement. Enditem
