Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko has returned home on Friday, days after he went missing from a pre-Olympics camp in western Japan.
Local media reports that Ssekitoleko is being held at the Ugandan police headquarters to determine if he committed an offence or not.
His pregnant wife, mother and government officials who had travelled to the Entebbe airport could not greet him upon arrival.
Uganda’s ministry of foreign affairs in a statement noted that the athlete was being “rehabilitated,” assuring that the government would help him understand how such acts of misconduct cannot only affect him as an athlete but also other athletes in the sports sector and the nation at large.”
The 20-year-old went missing from the camp a week ago but was later tracked down in Mie Prefecture on Tuesday in a joint operation between Japanese authorities and the Ugandan Embassy in Japan.
He did not meet the Olympic standards in the latest International rankings and thus fled the Team Uganda camp during pre-Olympics training.
Ssekitoleko had left a note in which he said he wanted to stay and work in the Asian nation.
