The team manager for the Ugandan Commonwealth Games team has told BBC Scotland News he has no idea why four boxers with the team have vanished.

Two men and two women who competed for Uganda at the Games failed to turn up for their scheduled flights home and have since turned off their mobile phones.

Media reports in Uganda, external suggested the four may be looking to seek asylum, but Uganda’s chef de mission Godwin Kayangwe said he hoped the athletes would return home before their visas expire in October.

Police say inquiries are ongoing into a number of Commonwealth athletes who have failed to turn up for homeward flights, but it is understood little can be done until the existing visas expire.

The four boxers – Ibrahim Kemis, 20, Nuhu Batte, 22, Emily Nakalema, 32 and Angel Katushabe, 21 – were due to fly back to Uganda on Tuesday.

Kayangwe said he has no idea why they have disappeared but suspects they are “probably still in Glasgow or somewhere in Europe.”

“I don’t know anything about why they decided not to fly home but I know they communicated with their team manager and said they would be coming back.

“But after that their phones went off, so they have definitely broken the camp rules because no athlete is supposed to leave without permission.

“Their visas are still valid until October so hopefully, probably, they will come back to their country.”

Asked why the athletes might be looking to seek asylum, the team manager said he didn’t know.

“I have totally no idea, absolutely no idea what type of asylum they would be seeking. It’s nothing political, it’s nothing to do with gender or something [like that] – I have absolutely no idea why they would be doing that.”

Sports media site NBS Sports said it had spoken to one of the four missing boxers, who claimed the athletes intended to seek asylum and continue their boxing careers in a country they believed offered better training facilities and opportunities than their homeland.

The boxer was also said to have appealed to Ugandans for understanding and asked not to be judged for the decision.

Kayangwe said the matter was now with the Ugandan high commission who will liaise with the authorities in Scotland.

He added that he had a simple message to the missing athletes.

“My message is pretty clear, observe the law and make sure the visa does not expire while you are still here. Come back to Uganda and and they can probably come back to Europe whenever they want.”

He added he hoped the boxers would make the “right decision” and return to Uganda.

Pakistan Today also reported, external that the boxer Qudrat Ullah had not joined the rest of his team-mates in flying home to Pakistan, and that he was not found in his room when officials went to search for him.