Thieves stole around 2,000 dollars in cash from the hotel rooms of Colombia’s World Cup squad in an embarrassment for organisers ahead of the showpiece tournament in South Africa, newspapers reported Friday.
Two employees of the five star Hyde Park Southern Hotel in Johannesburg who were already under investigation for unrelated offences have been charged with the crime, The Times newspaper said
It occurred prior to the team’s World Cup warm-up match against South Africa which they lost 2-1 on Thursday.
South Africa’s high crime rate, including 50 murders a day, has become a major headache ahead of the World Cup which opens on June 11. Organisers have dafted in 44,000 additional security personnel to police the event.
But cases like the Hyde Park theft may be difficult to avoid, according to police.
“It was an inside job. How do you police that? You cannot,” the newspaper quoted police spokesman Eugene Opperman as saying.