UK Olympian Mo Farah reveals he was illegally trafficked as child
Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah has revealed he was illegally trafficked into the UK as a boy, under the name of another child.
In a new BBC documentary, the athlete has admitted previous claims he came to the UK as an eight-year-old to join his London-born father were untrue.
“It’s not my name and it’s not the reality,” he said. “The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin.”
“Despite what I’ve said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK.”
The now-39-year-old said in reality, his father was killed in a civil war that saw his family torn apart and him separated from his mother.
“I was brought into the UK illegally under the name of another child, Mohamed Farah.
“I know I’ve taken someone else’s place but I do wonder what is Mohamed doing now?”
In the documentary, a barrister warns Farah while he was trafficked to the UK as a small child, there is still a “real risk” his British nationality could be revoked because it was obtained by misrepresentations.
But a Home Office spokesperson has assured “no action whatsoever will be taken against Sir Mo and to suggest otherwise is wrong.”
Image: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images