Egypt players officially cleared of 'womanizing'

الإثنين، 29 يونيو 2009 - 21:28

كتب : Omar AbdelAziz

South African police have confirmed there were no women accompanying Egypt players to their hotel rooms on Thursday June 18th, as no suspects were identified in the theft probe.

Police were investigating the robbery of around $2500 from the hotel rooms of some Egypt squad members at the time of their Confederations Cup game with Italy 10 days ago.

After concluding the investigation, local police refuted media allegations claiming a handful of Egypt players were embroiled in a 'party with hookers' after stunning the Azzurri.

"No women had accompanied players into their rooms," deputy national police commissioner Andre Pruis told a press conference in Pretoria on Monday.

"Footage obtained from the hotel indicated that no person other than the Egyptian team, two children of the coaching staff and hotel staff members had access to the rooms of the hotel in Illovo, Johannesburg."

The announcement was expected, yet morale-boosting, to the Egyptian team delegation, whose members had incessantly expressed their dismay over the false claims.

It also comes as a blow for South African tabloid Sunday World, which initially fueled the speculation, before posting a headline ' Sex, lies, celluloid - We’ll know the truth tomorrow' on Sunday.

"The newspaper report was not helping in the investigation as it mentioned a 'faceless' top cop," added Pruis.

"Who is this top cop, name him," he said

Extra Measures

In the same context, Egypt ambassador Mohamed Zayed reaffirmed the police announcement as he threatened legal action against the paper if they didn’t post an alteration.

"The police and video footage from the hotel had cleared the players of allegations that they drank alcohol and entertained women," he said.

"Those journalists who reported on the allegations should correct it or we will take extra measures."

No Suspect

Meanwhile, police have admitted that no one was held responsible of the reported theft as the case has been forwarded to public prosecutions.

"No suspect has been identified and the hotel staff members who had access to the rooms have been completely cleared through fingerprint and polygraph tests," added Pruis.

"We have not closed the case. We have referred it to the director of public prosecutions for them to take a decision, and not us."

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