As the summer Olympics come to a close, nine Australian athletes may have a difficult time leaving Rio, as they’ve had their passports pulled after being accused of falsifying credentials to attend a basketball game.
The athletes, cyclists Ashlee Ankudinoff and Melissa Hoskins, rugby player Ed Jenkins, archers Alec Potts and Ryan Tyack, rowers Olympia Aldersey, Fiona Albert and Lucy Stephan and hockey player Simon Orchard, have been released from the police station and returned to the athletes village.
One other athlete, Matthew Glaetzer, was held as a witness, but does not face charges.
Under Brazilian law, falsifying documents can be punishable by prison time. However, if the fine is paid, there would be no criminal convictions and any record of the incident will be eliminated after two years.
They each face a fine of R$10,000. All to see a basketball game? Yikes.
Athletes competing in the Olympic games are typically given a pass that grants the athlete access to various sporting events, but without a specific assigned seat. It is perhaps likely none of the Australian athletes will face any real danger, and they could all very well end up getting their passports back without having to pay any fine if lawyers can square away a few details.
A federal officer has suggested there may have been an error in the passes, which would be welcome news for the Australian delegation.
And there are obviously worse things an Olympic athlete can falsify.