SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: WORLD CUP 2010: Police say all North Koreans accounted for at World Cup

Record ID: 452151

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER: WORLD CUP 2010: Police say all North Koreans accounted for at World Cup
  • Date: 19th June 2010
  • Summary: PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 18, 2010) (REUTERS) REPORTER TALKING TO COLONEL VISHNU NAIDOO, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SPOKESMAN FOR SECURITY IN THE WORLD CUP NAIDOO SPEAKING FLAG FOR SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) COLONEL VISHNU NAIDOO, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SPOKESMAN FOR SECURITY IN THE WORLD CUP SAYING: "Well what can I say, it's not correct information. It's incorrect information, I'm not really sure where that came from, because we have police officers who are close protectors of all the teams, and they are constantly with the players, so no information has come through at all to even suggest that the players are not part of the team. We even checked, now that there are a lot of media enquiring, we've checked now as well and we verified that all the players are still with the team." NAIDOO TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) COLONEL VISHNU NAIDOO, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SPOKESMAN FOR SECURITY IN THE WORLD CUP, TALKING ABOUT WHY THE RUMOUR MIGHT HAVE COME ABOUT, SAYING: "I have no idea, I don't know, it must have been some journalist that's been irresponsible or childish, but I am not sure where this came from. But as far as we know, for all the players for all the teams, all the players are still with all the teams." SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALL TEAM LOGO NAIDOO TALKING TO REPORTER
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA24BCBH1WRV9IXQOUOJSE2IV8
  • Story Text: The South African police denied rumours on Friday (June 18) that four North Korean players had defected during the World Cup, and said that all the team members were accounted for.
    "Well what can I say, it's not correct information. It's incorrect information, I'm not really sure where that came from, because we have police officers who are close protecters of all the teams, and they are constantly with the players, so no information has come through at all to even suggest that the players are not part of the team. We even checked, now that there are a lot of media enquiring, we've checked now as well and we verified that all the players are still with the team," South African Police Spokesman for Security during the World Cup, Vishnu Naidoo said.
    A report on the PortuGOAL.net website said four players were missing when the Asian team played Brazil in their opening match this week and were nowhere to be found.
    "It must have been some journalist that's been irresponsible or childish, but I am not sure where this came from," Naidoo said. "But as far as we know, for all the players for all the teams, all the players are still with all the teams."
    Secretive North Korea are appearing in their first World Cup Finals since 1966.
    The reclusive state dispatches security agents to keep tabs on athletes who travel abroad and subtly reminds them that its authorities will jail their family and friends if they try to defect, human rights groups have said.
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