A 25-year-old Kenyan chess player was caught disguising himself as a woman to compete in his country’s female open chess tournament.
The man, whose name was revealed as Stanley Omondi, was dressed head to toe in a burka wearing spectacles and registered himself as Millicent Awour.
Omondi’s daring move was exposed as the organisers got suspicious by the unknown player’s success.
Organizers didn’t have any suspicion at first because wearing a hijab is normal but his footwear and the fact that the player did not speak added to concerns.
Despite their reservations, officials allowed him to continue because they did not want to be accused of profiling because of the religious attire and only ejected him in the fourth round.
He later apologized in a letter to the organizers claiming that he had financial needs and said he was ready to accept all consequences.
Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala said that while he was likely to get a ban of several years, he would not be excluded from chess for ever.