Police open enquiry into Farah trafficking revelations

LONDON (AP):

London’s Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has opened an investigation into four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah’s revelation that he was trafficked to the UK as a child.

The enquiry comes after Farah, 39, said in a documentary that a woman he didn’t know brought him to the UK when he was about eight years old and forced him to care for her children. He said he wasn’t allowed to go to school until he was 12.

In the documentary, produced by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, Farah said his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin. He said he was brought to Britain using fake travel documents that included his picture alongside the name Mohammed Farah, the name under which he won four Olympic gold medals and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

“We are aware of reports in the media concerning Sir Mo Farah. No reports have been made to the MPS at this time,” the police department said in a statement. “Specialist officers have opened an investigation and are currently assessing the available information.”

Farah previously said he moved to Britain with his parents as a refugee from Somalia. But in the documentary, he said his parents never came to the UK.

His father was killed by gunfire during unrest in Somalia when Farah was four, according to the film. His mother and two brothers live on the family farm in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia that is not internationally recognised.