Posts Tagged ‘Spanish National Football Team’

Spain Football cries Foul over Strip Poker Robbery Allegations

Thursday, June 27th, 2013

The Spanish football team is headed to the Confederations Cup Finals after outscoring Italy 7-6 in penalty kicks after a scoreless tie in regulation. And you can bet that they’ll be keeping the celebration to a minimum after dealing with major controversy over a strip poker robbery story.

Brazilian newspaper Globoesporte claimed that nine days ago, six Spanish players and several team officials held a booze-filled romp to celebrate their 2-1 Quarterfinals victory over Uruguay. The celebration allegedly included women, a samba band, lots of alcohol, and a strip poker game. When the players awoke, the women had apparently made off with their money.

Globo relied on reports from a Recife, Brazil hotel security team and other employees for this strip poker robbery story. However, Spain footballers aren’t amused with the report and claim that it’s a complete lie.

The Spanish Football Federation says that the only part of the story that’s true is how six players were robbed. However, they say that the robbery took place when these athletes were playing in the Confederations Cup game against Uruguay.

In a page-long statement about the Globo report, the Spanish Football Federation wrote, “The Royal Spanish Football Federation denies the facts distributed by a Brazilian media that undermine the good name of the Spanish football team and the reputation and professionalism of his players.”

Brazil has long been known for its high crime rate. In fact, the wife of Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar reported being robbed at gunpoint in Fortaleza, where Brazil had played Mexico. So it’s certainly not inconceivable to believe that the Spanish players were just flat-out robbed, rather than a strip poker game being involved.

The past two weeks have seen plenty of protests in Brazil over the Confederations Cup. Citizens are angry over poor schools and a bad healthcare system, and wonder why the country spent $13 billion to build World Cup stadiums.