Nine Ghanaians who were part of a fake Paralympic team have disappeared without a trace after entering Norwegian territory to prepare for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon using Schengen visas obtained using forged documents.

According to authorities, the 11-member fake team was created with the aim of having the participants remain in the EU illegally, despite entering on short-term Schengen visas.

However, the fake team’s plan did not go as expected. Norwegian authorities discovered their intentions when they failed to register for the event and alerted other Schengen member states and diplomatic missions in Ghana.

An official document from the Ghanaian Ministry of National Security states that nine members of the fake team have run away. There is still no information about their whereabouts.

Reports suggest that members of the Ghanaian Paralympic team have absconded to other Schengen countries after arriving in Oslo, Norway, on April 25, 2024 for the Fjordkraft Bergen City Marathon.

As for the other two team members, it has been reported that one of them, the team’s coach, has died, while another member was arrested by Norwegian authorities when he tried to leave for Sweden.

2 Ghana Paralympic officials suspended after scandal

Following the scandal, the National Paralympic Committee suspended two officials for forging Schengen visa documents and helping the 11 members enter Norway illegally.

According to an official statement from the National Paralympic Committee, the suspension of the two officials is indefinite. The statement also suggested that the officials will not return to their roles after being implicated in the scandal.

Does the scandal have implications for the issuance of Schengen visas to Ghanaians?

Although the EU authorities have not yet made an official statement on the matter, it is believed that stricter rules will apply to Schengen visa applicants from Ghana in the future.

Those involved in the scandal will be banned from entering the Schengen area for a certain period of time once they are deported to Ghana, in accordance with Schengen rules.

According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo, Ghanaians applied for 45,421 Schengen visas in 2023. However, only 23,400 of them received a positive decision on their application, while 21,226 had their Schengen visa applications rejected.