- Mo Farah claims he was unlawfully smuggled into Britain as a teenager.
- He says he arrived from Djibouti with a woman and was pushed into domestic servitude.
- The 39-year-old runner won Olympic gold in the 5/10,000m at the 2012 and 2016 Games.
LONDON: The Metropolitan Police of London has begun an investigation into Mo Farah shocking claims that he was unlawfully smuggled into Britain as a teenager.
This week, in a documentary, the 39-year-old Somalian-born runner who won double Olympic gold (5/10,000m) for his adopted country at the 2012 and 2016 Games disclosed his real name as Hussein Abdi Kahin.
Upon entering the country at the age of eight or nine, he was pushed into domestic servitude, he said.
“We are aware of reports in the media concerning Sir Mo Farah,” the Metropolitan Police said in a Thursday statement.
“No reports have been made to the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) at this time. Specialist officers have opened an investigation and are currently assessing the available information.“
Farah’s physical education teacher at school helped him get British citizenship while he was still using the fake name Mohamed Farah, which was given to him by the woman who brought him to Britain.
[embedpost slug=”/police-arrest-owner-of-south-african-bar-where-21-youths-died/”]
On Wednesday, the British government promised Farah he would not lose his citizenship, calling him a “sporting hero.”
Farah said he arrived from Djibouti with a woman he’d never met to watch after another family’s children, not as a refugee from Somalia with his mother and two brothers to join his IT consultant father.
When Farah was four, his father was killed in the civil war in Somalia. His mother, Aisha, and two brothers live in Somaliland.
After concealing the truth for decades, his wife and children persuaded him to speak out now.
“I honestly don’t want to be talking about it because I told myself I would never talk about it. I’m gonna lock it up,” he added.
[embedpost slug=”/kazakhistan-president-tokayev-hits-out-over-sugar-crisis/”]
