Though heavily secured, the temporary offices of the FIFA, in Johannesburg, were raided and seven replicas of the World Cup trophy were stolen. The thieves also took team garments and equipment.
The police also revealed that 316 people (207 of South African origin), including Paris Hilton, for possession of marijuana, have been arrested for World Cup-related crimes, since the commencement of the tournament. Six Mozambique, 9 Algerians, 8 British citizens, 11 Ethiopians, 7 Nigerians, 6 Zimbabwe, 6 United States citizens and 6 Pakistan have all been detained.
In the mean time, the house of Police Vice Minister, Fikile Mbalula, was broken into and expensive electronic equipment stolen. Mbalula is one of the top officials in control of security for the games.
Chief of Police, Bheki Cele, said the South African government has placed a very high priority on security since the World Cup started. “You will hardly walk 500 meters without seeing police patrol around …and you cannot drive into the stadium area if you don’t have an accreditation and if you are not an official. So these are some of the things the government has done to make sure the security is tight and high.”
He agreed the robbery cases, although very disturbing, have not dampened the excitement of visitors and tourists.
The World Cup Trophy (insured for $60,000) was stolen from a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, in 1966, just four months before the FIFA World Cup in England.
After the Chairman of the Football Association received a ransom note demanding $30,000 in small currency notes, a ‘ransom’ was put together, using only scraps of paper. The hand over went badly.
Some days later a ‘package’ was found lying underneath a hedge, parceled in old newspaper. It was the trophy. A petty thief and used car dealer was convicted of the robbery.
The FA privately created a replica trophy to be used in pre-match celebrations.
The cup was stolen once more in a daring robbery in 1983 in Rio de Janerio. The trophy was never recovered. The Brazilian Football Confederation commissioned their own replica, by Eastman Kodak, using 3.97 pound of gold and finished in 1986.
The FIFA said enough was enough after the two robberies. It now retains the “FIFA World Cup Trophy” and hands out only replicas to the champions.
The World Cup is the most prestigious trophy on earth. Other contenders include Nobel Prize, the Olympic gold medal, Posh Spice and Stanley Cup.
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