JOHANNESBURG: Police and the hotel where the Egypt team have been staying during the Confederations Cup are looking into allegations that some of the players had money stolen from their rooms.
Protea Hotels issued a statement saying they were co-operating with police after a report that several players found cash missing when they returned after their historic 1-0 win over Italy on Thursday.
Regarding the incident of alleged theft from the rooms of a number of the Egyptian football players at Protea Hotel Wanderers, Protea Hotels is co-operating fully with the police, the hotel said.
It added that it was taking the matter very seriously .
At the time of this statement, the police have interviewed the guests reportedly affected by the theft as well as the staff at the hotel and we are awaiting the results of this investigation.
The hotel said it had strict security measures in place where electronic access control of the rooms and safes was monitored.
We are working very closely with local law enforcement bodies to get to the bottom of this unfortunate incident, it said.
An Egyptian delegation official told AFP two players lost small sums of money.
South Africa battles one of the world s worst crime rates with heavily beefed up security details in place for the Confederations Cup.
On Wednesday, one of the stadiums built for the 2010 World Cup, but not being used for the Confederations Cup, was attacked by armed robbers after an international rugby match with the touring British and Irish Lions. -AFP
