Posted : Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:33:30 GMT
Author : DPA
Río de Janeiro - Brazilian police Sunday were investigating claims by
two Cuban boxers who had disappeared from their Pan American Games'
squad that they were drugged and kidnapped, and denied that they had
attempted to defect two weeks ago. Erislandy Lara y Guillermo Rigondeaux
disappeared from the athletes' village in Rio de Janeiro on July 22, and
were incommunicado until police found them Thursday in the tourist area
of Dos Lagos.
The pair claimed that they had been drugged, blindfolded and coerced
into signing a contract by two men - one German and one Cuban - who
planned to take them to compete in Europe.
They told police that they left the athletes' village to go out and buy
a video game, but did not attempt to defect.
Lara, 24, is world amateur welterweight champion, and Rigondeaux, 25, is
a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. They reportedly told police they
wanted to return to Cuba, and turned down offers of legal representation
and temporary asylum.
The boxers' disappearance had provoked outrage from Cuban President
Fidel Castro, who denounced unnamed German businessmen for "hijacking
talent" and attempting to damage Cuba.
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