After Chris Smalling and his wife were robbed under gun threats, the British media are dealing with the growing gang phenomenon: "Clubs have responsibilities, players are their property"
Chris Smalling
Photo:
Reuters
Last week Roma player Chris Smalling was robbed at his home in the Italian capital by an armed gang of robbers who forced him to open the safe under gun threats and took jewelery, luxury watches and cash worth £ 100,000. Experts in the field invest tens of thousands of pounds a month on security.
The Sun quoted Alex Bloomberg, CEO of a British security company, as saying: "I think clubs have a responsibility.
Footballers, politicians and the like represent their brand, the club.
So they do not really have free time.
Players are an asset of the club, they are a type of club property, so the teams need to help with that. "
Bloomberg added: "No matter how you look at it, whether in the legal sense or even just as an employer, I think clubs should say to themselves: 'This is what we need to do, we need to do risk assessments for all players, understand when they are particularly exposed and how we can defend "It's just a matter of time before a family member or actor is killed, I really believe that."
Smalling is not the first footballer to be robbed, and probably not the last.
About a year ago Della Ali from Tottenham was beaten and robbed at his home by armed with a knife.
Last February, Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti's home was broken into by two masked men who stole a safe, and from the house of team goalkeeper Robin Olsen, jewelery was stolen by a gang armed with machetes.
As you may recall, during a Paris Saint-Germain match in the French league in March, there were robberies at the home of the team's players, Marcinius and Angel Di Maria.
Simon Roberts, chief operating officer of another British security firm, has revealed that the problem is even bigger than we know: "Only five out of a hundred cases reach the media. Robberies, thefts and burglaries of footballers' homes are becoming more common. Of private security companies or lawyers. "
