Australian athletes could miss flight home in final frustration

Kitty Chiller, Chef de Mission for Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, gives a press conference in which she spoke about the fines levied against a group of their athletes for entering the basketball arena without proper accreditation, in Rio de Janeiro August 20, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Nine Australian Olympic athletes had their passports returned on Sunday, a team official said, after an accreditation problem at the Rio Games earlier saw them risk missing their flight home.

The nine athletes were briefly detained by police, collectively fined 90,000 reais (£21,503) and had their passports seized after entering the basketball arena without proper accreditation on Friday night.