October 6, 2014
COLOMBO (AFP) - Two Sri Lankan sportsmen were missing from their Asian Games village and believed to have run away looking for jobs in the host nation South Korea, official sources said Monday.
A hockey player and a member of the beach volleyball team were unaccounted for at the time Sri Lanka's 80-strong contingent prepared to leave on Saturday.
Official sources identified the missing hockey player as Prasanna Dissanayake, a Sri Lankan soldier, and speculated that he may have run away to look for a job in South Korea.
The missing beach volleyball player was not immediately identified, but was also thought to be a member of the armed forces.
Sri Lanka secured a gold and a bronze, both for cricket, at the games.
In 2004, a Sri Lankan handball team vanished during a tournament in Germany. Later it was discovered that the 23-member team had no authority to represent the island and had tricked the German organisers from the start.
Over a million Sri Lankans are employed abroad and sent back nearly $4.0 billion in the first half of this year. There have been instances of Sri Lankans leaving the island illegally to see more lucrative employment abroad.
