World Cup: England robbed by cleaning staff

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England’s World Cup run got cleaned out twice in the last week.

In addition to losing to Germany, 4-1, in a second-round game, the English team had items stolen by cleaning staff at its hotel in South Africa including jerseys, a medal and even players’ underwear, police told the Associated Press on Monday.

Police spokeswoman Junior Metsi said cash was taken -- about $750. But the thieves seemed most interested in souvenirs, such as a United States jersey that an England player received in the customary postmatch trade. A medal awarded by FIFA and underwear also disappeared in a spree that police say began June 21.

The thefts were not reported to police until Saturday. Metsi said police solved the case within a day, searching the homes of staff at the hotel near Rustenburg, about a 2 1/2-hour drive northwest of Johannesburg.

‘Everything that was stolen was recovered and they [the thieves] are now behind bars,’ she said.

On Sunday, a special World Cup court convicted five hotel workers of the thefts. They were sentenced to three years in prison and fined 6,000 rand (about $800).

Metsi would not name the players from whom items were stolen.

England’s World Cup headquarters is a state-of-the-art sports complex and hotel built by the Bafokeng tribe of northern South Africa that was completed shortly before the tournament began.

Sue Cook, an official with the Bafokeng administration, told the AP that the hotel’s managers would work to ensure incidents like the thefts do no recur. She emphasized that police were quick to respond and that all of the items had been recovered.

‘I’m pretty sure this was an isolated incident,’ Cook said. ‘I think the response to this incident was very impressive.’

The Bafokeng also own the Rustenburg stadium where World Cup games were played.

-- Kevin Baxter in Johannesburg, South Africa