Russia arrived at Caracas International Airport in Venezuela yesterday evening to find that a bag was missing from their luggage.
The bag unfortunately contained their game vests and warm-up jerseys, according to Russian reports.
The Russians arrived in Caracas from Houston, Texas where they played a series of friendly fixtures with Great Britain. They were given a warm reception by locals on arrival, including a medal as a token of friendship between the two countries.
Sergey Monia told Russian reporters that the flight was very pleasant as was the welcome, albeit a little unusual.
Caracas is considered to be one of the most dangerous capital cities on earth with extremely high death rates along with theft and armed robbery. Taking no chances, Russia’s players and coaches were accompanied by armed militants and security staff.
There previously was a lot of criticism over FIBA’s decision to hold the Olympic Qualifying Tournament not just in Caracas but in a country that is over 4600 miles away and in a different time zone to London.
It is not known if Russian officials did claim their missing bag, and are practicing in spare training gear.
Russia begin their campaign tomorrow against Korea (11:00 local time).
