Unfortunately, robbery is a common occurence and no one is immune - even athletes. It could be said that athletes are the most targeted. They are wealthy and bound to have nearly everything possible. It's one of the cons of becoming rich and famous.
Former Hungarian fencer, László Csongrádi, has been left so distraught by the theft of his Olympic gold medal that he has offered to leave it to the thief in his will if it is returned. Csongrádi, 65, won the Olympic gold in the men’s team sabre competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Yet, his most precious possession was taken from him when his home was broken into late on 10 September as the former athlete was sleeping. "For two weeks, I can’t calm down and be happy because everything reminds me of my stolen Olympic gold medal," Csongrádi told Hungary’s Sportal website.
"I would give everything to the culprit but I want him to return the worthless object that means nothing to him. Drop it in the mailbox and if you want, I won’t leave it to a museum in my will, I’ll bequeath it to him."
The medal was stored away in a cupboard, Csongrádi said, adding that the burglar only left the house when the former fencer left his room and shouted at him.
"He could have taken other important things, but for some reason (the medal) was all he was interested in," he added.
"The thief touched many things, many fingerprints were left behind but there is nothing to identify them. I don’t know what to do to get the message across to him: I don’t want to hurt him… you can negotiate with me."
In another Olympics story, police have arrested and charged a man for allegedly stealing four Olympic medals belonging to Australian rower, Drew Ginn. However, the medals – three gold and a silver – are still missing.
The 47-year-old man, who was wanted on a warrant over the alleged theft, was arrested in Brunswick, a northern suburb of Melbourne. Authorities said Ginn’s medals were believed to have been stolen from the back of a Land Rover parked in the Victorian capital about a week ago.
A GoPro camera, headphones and a wetsuit were also stolen, with police saying Ginn had left them along with the medals inside his car during a speaking engagement at a school.
Ginn is one of Australia’s most decorated Olympic athletes and was a member of the champion rowing crew known as, "The Oarsome Foursome." Police have released a photo of the medals and asked people to keep an eye out in case they are seen for sale at pawn shops or online platforms.
The alleged thief has been charged with theft from a motor vehicle, obtaining property by deception, obtaining financial advantage by deception and handling stolen goods.
He won the medals during a nearly two decade Olympic career that began at the 1996 games in Atlanta and continued through to the London Olympics in 2012.
"They’ve got a lot of value for family and friends… but you can’t insure them," Ginn told public broadcaster, ABC Radio Melbourne.
"They were hidden away in the car but the car was ransacked completely so lots of stuff was broken and destroyed," he added.
The 49-year-old voiced hope that, rather than being sold, the medals might find their way back to their rightful owner.
In 2007, Eddy Curry and his family were robbed at gunpoint in his suburban Chicago home. Three robbers entered the home and tied them up with duct tape before making off with cash and jewelry worth approximately $10 000. The local police believed that Curry was systematically targeted by the group and it was not an isolated incident.
Three armed men invaded Stephen Jackson's home, tied up his wife and robbed the house while Jackson was gone. Jackson's wife was locked in a bathroom while the robbers searched the house and took "several Louis Vuitton wallets, jewelry, a stun gun and a nine-millimeter handgun," according to the police report.
In 2002, CC Sabathia, during his time with the Cleveland Indians, went back to a hotel room with his brother and a group of men they met at a nightclub.
When they got to the room, the group of men turned guns on Sabathia and his brother, stealing Sabathia's necklace, wallet and earrings. Sabathia owned up to the incident, saying it was entirely his fault for putting himself in that position.
In 2002, when Chris Childs was playing for the New Jersey Nets, he was leaving rapper, P. Diddy's nightclub, Justin's, when he was held up at gunpoint and had $30 000 worth of jewelry and cash taken from him.
The point guard was walking to his Mercedes Benz when four men approached him and robbed him.
In 2000, Stephon Marbury was the victim of a snatch-and-grab. Starbury was sitting in his Bentley when two men approached from either side of the car. One man reached in and stole a necklace that was worth $150 000 off of Marbury. The men didn't display a weapon and got into a car and drove off.
Antoine Walker was robbed not just once but twice during his NBA career. The first incident was in 2000, when Walker was one of six people who were robbed at gunpoint. The thieves made off with $100 000 worth of jewelry, including Walker's $55 000 watch and $3 000 in cash.
As if that wasn't bad enough, in 2007, Walker was duct-taped and held at gunpoint in his home during a robbery.
In January of 2010, Jayson Williams' home was robbed while Williams was away. Sports memorabilia, jewelry and electronics were stolen. Among the items stolen were: shoes signed by Tiger Woods; shorts signed by Wilt Chamberlain and a lyric sheet signed by Tupac Shakur.
Of all sports, the football sector is the most targeted of all sports. There are various reasons why.
One of the most apparent reasons for the repeated burglaries involving footballers is their considerable wealth and high public profile. These athletes often earn vast sums of money through salaries, endorsements and other ventures. Their ostentatious lifestyles, marked by lavish homes, luxury vehicles and extravagant possessions, make them attractive targets for criminals seeking quick financial gains. The criminals’ assumption that the home of a Premier League football player will hold valuable items, fuels their motivations.
Additionally, the fame and popularity of footballers provide burglars with insider information about their routines and schedules. Social media platforms allow players to share glimpses of their daily lives, enabling criminals to deduce when a player might be away for matches or events. The combination of wealth and visibility creates an environment ripe for exploitation.
For many Premier League football players, acquiring material possessions represents a tangible manifestation of their success and accomplishments. Flashy cars, designer clothing and opulent homes are often seen as status symbols, validating their hard work and dedication to their sport. Unfortunately, this conspicuous display of wealth can inadvertently attract criminal attention.
The societal pressure to showcase prosperity fuels the cycle, as players may feel obligated to maintain an image of affluence to appease fans, sponsors and even their peers. This need to meet perceived expectations exacerbates the vulnerability of footballers to burglaries and robberies.
While fame and success offer recognition and adulation, they also expose Premier League football players to a unique set of risks. Their public lives provide ample opportunities for individuals to gather information about their whereabouts and routines. Unscrupulous individuals might pose as fans seeking autographs or photographs, only to use the information they glean to target the players’ homes during their absence.
Moreover, the close-knit football community can inadvertently contribute to vulnerability. Players often reside in affluent neighbourhoods alongside their team-mates and colleagues, making them more predictable targets. The interconnectedness of the football world can lead to a false sense of security, as players assume that their fellow professionals would never exploit their shared experiences.
Beyond external factors, psychological dynamics play a pivotal role in the prevalence of targeted burglaries of footballers. The thrill of targeting someone famous, coupled with the potential financial reward, can be irresistible to certain criminals. The perceived invincibility of footballers, reinforced by their on-field accomplishments, might make them appear as challenging adversaries to potential burglars.
Moreover, the feeling of resentment or jealousy among those who admire footballers from afar can contribute to these incidents. The desire to "level the playing field" by taking what the athletes have can drive some individuals to criminal actions. This psychological interplay further highlights the intricate motivations behind burglaries targeting Premier League football players.
Despite their public persona, many footballers lead lives of relative isolation. The constant scrutiny from the media, fans and even team-mates, can result in a lack of genuine connections outside the sport. This isolation can leave them emotionally vulnerable and less equipped to handle the psychological aftermath of a burglary.
The invasion of their personal space not only results in material loss but also in a loss of safety and security. The violation can lead to heightened stress, anxiety and even post-traumatic effects. The lack of privacy inherent in their profession makes footballers more susceptible to the emotional toll of such incidents.
To compound the reasons for being burgled and robbed, is the fact that many footballers use a reactive approach to security. Only acting after an incident; either at their home with their family, or whilst out in public, an area where they can only attract attention, whether wanted or not. Security support is generally gained from the footballers’ in-house security team, specialists in crowd control but not specialist in personnel and family risk management. Putting a security operator outside of footballer’s house, or affording them a bodyguard in the wake of an incident is already too late.
Effective risk management for crimes against a person only work using a proactive approach. The taking of valuables, either from the home or from a person, is often only the tip of an iceberg from a crime perspective. With the psychological effect on the player’s family often the real lasting effect that needs addressing. Or the player’s lack of focus on the pitch due to an incident which will negatively affect their game is hard to quantify from a monetary perspective, either from thinking about a potential incident, or being concerned for their family whilst away playing football.
Premier League football player, Raheem Sterling, for example, his family home was burgled during the World Cup, will now be conscious every single time that he is away from the family home, that there is potential for his family to be subjected a horrific burglary again. This effect on his game is immeasurable but for top flight athletes, where fractions of percentages on performance count, burglary and robbery are a distraction that they can do without.
While there are no official statistics on how many soccer stars are being robbed or assaulted in their homes, it is clear from a brief glance at social media and traditional media outlets that more and more players are becoming victims.
In total, there have been more than 20 examples since 2019 of publicly reported robberies of soccer stars and their families across Europe's top leagues.
In March 2021, Premier League goalkeeper, Robin Olsen, was at his house close to Manchester with his wife and two children, when a masked gang armed with machetes broke in, tied them up and stole jewelry. Though nobody was physically injured, Olsen was said to have been "deeply traumatized" by the incident, according to The Sun.
A month before Olsen was burgled, two robbers broke into the home of his manager, Carlo Ancelotti, and took a safe.
Over the past two years, Chelsea defender, Reece James, has twice been targeted — first his car and later his home.
Former Liverpool star, Fabinho, had possessions and a $125 000 car stolen while he celebrated his side winning the Premier League in July 2020.
Robberies are not just a problem in England, however. In January 2021, Juventus and USMNT star, Weston McKennie, had designer clothes and other items stolen from his home while he played in a cup match.
Argentine defender, Nicolas Otamendi, was assaulted at his home in Lisbon, Portugal, with attackers putting a belt round his neck, according to Portuguese media.
Perhaps the most public robbery to date, Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) Angel Di Maria was dragged off the field by his manager when the club got word that his family home had just been burgled. His wife and two young children had been held hostage during the ordeal.
At the final whistle, Di Maria's team-mate and PSG captain, Marquinhos, received a similar message. A house he had purchased for his parents had also been targeted. His father had been involved in an altercation with one of the intruders.
Fortunately, nobody was injured in either incident.
In it's most basic form, crime opportunity theory suggests that opportunity is the key factor as to whether a potential thief will act or not. In the case of football players being targeted, opportunity is rife.
Not only do players often share pictures of their wealth and expensive belongings on social media but their timetables are also publicly known. Thieves know when stars are training or playing a match and therefore know when they'll be away from their homes.
A study published in the Applied Economics journal in 2012 argued that statistically in England and Wales, crimes with economic motives such as robberies and thefts are most often committed by males from lower socio-economic backgrounds who have a lower than average level of education.
A similar study published by the University of Manchester in 2018 backed that assertion, stating that people from the least affluent, 20% of society, were 13 times more likely to commit violent crime as young adults than those from the most affluent 20%.
While those from less wealthy backgrounds are more likely to commit such crimes, people from affluent ones are more likely to be victims. According to the Metropolitan Police, burglars most often target homes that they think will contain lots of valuable goods. Houses of that nature tend to lie in wealthy neighbourhoods.
On top of being smart with their social media presence, there are plenty of other measures players can take to protect themselves from being the targets of crime. This includes installing CCTV cameras on their properties, which act as both a deterrent and an early warning system, building panic rooms, fitting alarms, and keeping valuables away from windows and out of sight.
It seems that robberies are an inevitability. It will happen to nearly everyone. The rich and famous are the most at risk due to the flashy lifestyle that they may show on the outside. Extreme measures are needed to avoid crimes from happening; such as those mentioned above.