The National Migration Service (SENAMI) announced today that the Portuguese athletics coach Alberto Lário, arrested in Maputo for document irregularities, will be deported to Portugal.

"The citizen will be repatriated to his country of provenance because he does not have the requirements to remain in national territory," said Felizardo Jamaca, spokesman for SENAMI, in Maputo City, at a press conference called to clarify the case.

Alberto Lário, a figure who has been a reference for new generations of athletics in Mozambique, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon, due to irregularities in his documentation.

According to Felizardo Jamaca, Alberto Lario has been in an irregular situation since 2019, when his Foreign Resident Identification Document (DIRE) expired.

Alberto Lário, who was born in Mozambique and left the country at a very young age, has had an application for nationality "pending" for more than six years.

"To acquire nationality one must observe certain requirements and if his request was not answered he should have approached the entities to understand what happened. However, we have no proof that he submitted a nationality request," the spokesman said, adding that he is already in contact with the Portuguese diplomatic entities in Mozambique to have Alberto Lário deported.

The coach's detention, which resulted from a denunciation made by the President of the Mozambican Athletics Federation, Kamal Badrú, is generating indignation among Mozambican athletes, who today decided to organize a march to the Migration Service building, demanding the release of "coach Lário", as he is popularly known. (Lusa)