Romanian handball player Carmen Amaria Lungu, playing for Danish team Slagelse, was retained by airport authorities in Samara, Russia on Saturday under suspicion that she forged her passport. Slagelse was due to play against Russian team Lada Togliatti in the Champions League finals on Sunday.
The Romanian player was retained in a hotel near the Samara airport as Danish authorities turned to diplomacy to solve the situation.
Carmen Amariei talked to her family, telling why she was retained. “From what Carmen explained to us, they [the Russians] accused her of forging her passport. The passport ran out of pages and two new pages were attached to it at the Russian Embassy to Denmark.
They stamped the entry visa on them, but custom officers retained her on the airport”, according to Carmen’s sister, Anca Amariei.
Slagelse club manager Bjarne Stenbaek said the incident was “amateurish” and scandalous as far as Russian authorities are concerned.
