COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is trying to solve the mysterious disappearance of its "national handball team" while on tour in Germany, but it is no easy task -- the Indian Ocean island doesn't have one.
The 23-strong "team" managed to dupe the German Embassy in Colombo into issuing visas for a month-long tour beginning on September 8, acting German Ambassador Heidi Jung said on Thursday.
The group vanished soon after arrival and German and Sri Lankan officials have been unable to trace them. They are legally allowed to stay until October 7.
"There is no handball federation in Sri Lanka... We don't even have a single club," said Hemasiri Fernando, president of Sri Lanka's Olympic Association.
Sri Lanka's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sport said it was unclear what the group's strategy was, whether political asylum or illegal immigration.
"They presented documents, and the documents looked all right, so there were no reasons to say we can't give you a visa," Jung said.
A German national who helped set up the tour was left very red-faced, and had cancelled plans for a host of similar sporting tours, she laughed.
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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040916/80/f2p70.html
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