Sir Mo Farah is “relieved” the Home Office will not take any action against him after he discovered he was “trafficked” to the UK as a child.
The 39-year-old four-time Olympic champion revealed in a BBC documentary that he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin.
“The truth is I’m not who you think I am,” he said, explaining how he was brought to the UK with a woman and her children under the name of another boy named Mohammed Farah.
The Home Office has the power to strip people of their British citizenship if it is found to have been obtained illegally.
But it said “no action will be taken against Sir Mo” and “it would be wrong to suggest otherwise”.
Of the government’s response, Sir Mo told the BBC: “I’m relieved.”
He added: “This is my country. If it wasn’t for Alan [PE teacher Alan Watkinson] and the people who supported me throughout my childhood, then maybe I wouldn’t even have had the courage to do it.
“There are a lot of people who have been very supportive, especially my wife, throughout my career and given me the strength to come and talk about it and tell me it’s okay.”
The Metropolitan Police said it was “assessing” Sir Mo’s claims that he was trafficked to the UK as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant.
Scotland Yard said: “We are aware of media reports regarding Sir Mo Farr.
“The Ministry of Emergency Situations did not receive any reports [Metropolitan Police Service] at this time.
“Specialists are currently evaluating the available information.”
Sir Mo said he got the motivation to reveal his past from his children.
In the documentary, he says he was “born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin.”
He adds: “When I was four years old, my dad died in the civil war – you know that broke us up as a family.
“I was separated from my mother and brought illegally to the UK under the name of another child called Mohammed Farah.”
The Real Mo Farah is now on BBC iPlayer and BBC One at 9pm on 13 July
https://news.sky.com/story/sir-mo-farah-relieved-home-office-not-taking-action-after-he-was-trafficked-into-uk-as-a-child-12651005
