Rio Olympics 2016: Argentine football team robbed in Mexico
With roughly a week left for the Rio Olympics to kick-start in Brazil, the Argentine Football team was robbed in Mexico during their final warm-up match against the Central American nation before both the sides begin their campaign at the Games. While the players were sweating it out on the pitch, cash and electronics were stolen from their hotel rooms in the city of Puebla, Mexico.
The details of the incident were confirmed by Argentina Football Association (AFA) vice-president, Claudio Tapia. It was later learnt, as per the reports of ESPN, that the Mexican Football Federation had reached an agreement with the AFA, the hotel in which they were staying and an Insurance company to compensate the loss of the footballers.
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Tapia said, “No one was hurt because no one was in the rooms at the time, but we realized there had been a robbery when we returned to the hotel from the stadium and now we are looking into finding out who was responsible for the crime.
“When we returned to the hotel to change for dinner we realized that everything was all messed up. We were missing personal items and money. Someone must be held responsible” he added.
A tweet from the official handle of the Argentina football team confirmed the robbery and the name of the hotel where the side were staying.
Questions have already been raised about the security concerns at the Olympic Games. Earlier this year, an Australian Paralympic sailor was robbed at gunpoint while he was training at Rio de Janeiro. Recently, the Australian Olympic Team was forced to evacuate their apartments when a lot of smoke was detected to be coming out from a building at the Olympic Games Village.
Former Brazilian football star Rivaldo also admitted two months back that foreigners are in the risk to fall in danger in the South American nation.
The match between the nations ended in 0-0 draw. The Argentina side will face the likes of Portugal, Algeria and Honduras in the group stages at the Games, while the defending Champions Mexico will lock horns with Germany, Fiji, and South Korea.
The Rio Olympics will get underway on 5 August 2016, where 206 nations around the globe will battle it out for supremacy in the biggest sporting spectacle in the world.