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Organizing committee: police interviewed intruder
Source: Agencies |
June 20, 2010, Sunday
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SOUTH African police have identified and interviewed the fan who confronted England players in the changing room after the poor 0-0 World Cup draw against Algeria that left the team in danger of being eliminated.
Organizing committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo said today that police have spoken to the fan, who made it into the supposedly secure area at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium.
Mkhondo did not confirm whether it was the same fan identified by a British newspaper today.
The Sunday Mirror printed an interview with a south Londoner named Pavlos Joseph, who says he was directed to the changing room after Friday's match when he asked a security guard where he could find a toilet.
Pavlos, a 32-year-old mortgage adviser of Greek-Cypriot descent, reportedly walked unchallenged into the dressing room and immediately found himself in front of David Beckham.
"I thought, 'what the heck. I'm in the England dressing room. Why not say something?'" the paper quoted Pavlos as saying. "I looked David straight in the eye and said, 'David, we've spent a lot of money getting here. This is a disgrace. What are you going to do about it?'
"I told them, 'that was woeful and not good enough.'"
Pavlos said neither Beckham, who is injured and with the squad as a team ambassador, nor any of the players responded.
The paper said he was then escorted from the room by a FIFA official.
Brigadier Sally de Beer, spokeswoman for the South Africa Police Service, said police had seen the article and would issue a statement at 12:30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT).
The Sunday Mirror reported that Pavlos has a ticket for England's next Group C game, against leader Slovenia on Wednesday. FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot would not say whether FIFA would cancel the ticket to deny him entry.
Maingot said yesterday that security will be tightened to prevent a repeat of the intrusion and the organizing committee said police would study footage from security cameras in an attempt to identify the intruder.
But the paper quotes Pavlos as saying FIFA had already known who he was because he exchanged business cards with the official as he was leaving.
Many of the 25,000 England fans in Green Point Stadium jeered the players after Friday's performance, which has been widely criticized as one of the worst of any team at the World Cup.
Organizing committee spokesman Rich Mkhondo said today that police have spoken to the fan, who made it into the supposedly secure area at Cape Town's Green Point Stadium.
Mkhondo did not confirm whether it was the same fan identified by a British newspaper today.
The Sunday Mirror printed an interview with a south Londoner named Pavlos Joseph, who says he was directed to the changing room after Friday's match when he asked a security guard where he could find a toilet.
Pavlos, a 32-year-old mortgage adviser of Greek-Cypriot descent, reportedly walked unchallenged into the dressing room and immediately found himself in front of David Beckham.
"I thought, 'what the heck. I'm in the England dressing room. Why not say something?'" the paper quoted Pavlos as saying. "I looked David straight in the eye and said, 'David, we've spent a lot of money getting here. This is a disgrace. What are you going to do about it?'
"I told them, 'that was woeful and not good enough.'"
Pavlos said neither Beckham, who is injured and with the squad as a team ambassador, nor any of the players responded.
The paper said he was then escorted from the room by a FIFA official.
Brigadier Sally de Beer, spokeswoman for the South Africa Police Service, said police had seen the article and would issue a statement at 12:30 p.m. local time (1030 GMT).
The Sunday Mirror reported that Pavlos has a ticket for England's next Group C game, against leader Slovenia on Wednesday. FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot would not say whether FIFA would cancel the ticket to deny him entry.
Maingot said yesterday that security will be tightened to prevent a repeat of the intrusion and the organizing committee said police would study footage from security cameras in an attempt to identify the intruder.
But the paper quotes Pavlos as saying FIFA had already known who he was because he exchanged business cards with the official as he was leaving.
Many of the 25,000 England fans in Green Point Stadium jeered the players after Friday's performance, which has been widely criticized as one of the worst of any team at the World Cup.
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