Since at least 1993, there have been numerous instances in which sporting delegates from Sri Lanka, both athletes and managers, have disappeared during international competitions held overseas. Hundreds have gone missing in at least 47 incidents. In most of these cases, investigators believe the missing persons had attempted to illegally immigrate to the countries they disappeared in. Other countries' delegates have disappeared in this manner, but the phenomenon is uniquely common amongst Sri Lankans. The country's sporting officials now take precautions to deter future incidents, sometimes to no avail.
The most infamous case was in 2004, when all 23 members of a self-described Sri Lankan "national handball team" disappeared during a tournament in Bavaria, and were last witnessed by taxi drivers who dropped them off in Munich. Sri Lanka did not have an official national handball team; the men had tricked the German embassy in Sri Lanka into issuing them German travel visas, possibly by submitting forged documents as proof they were an official team. Consequently, Sri Lankan athletes stopped being issued German travel visas, no matter what sport they played.
ඔය ගොන් පකයෝ නිසා ඇත්ත උන්ට වීස ගන්නත් ලේසි නැහැ
