Online Reporter
CHELSEA have been rocked by the disappearance of £30,000 of camera equipment from their training ground.
The Blues called Surrey Police after the gear was reported missing from their Cobham HQ.
It remains unclear whether the hi-tech video equipment has just been mislaid and will come to light once all staff have returned from holiday.
But the incident is suspicious enough for the club to have involved the police.
Top football clubs like the world champion Blues make extensive use of video footage from training and matches to help players’ physical, technical, tactical and mental performance.
Chelsea declined to comment about the timing and circumstances of the discovery that the equipment was not where it should be.
But if a crime has been committed, it won’t be the first in the leafy Surrey suburbs to affect the club.
A number of Chelsea players have been the victims of break-ins at their mansions near the club’s training base.
Raheem Sterling’s home was targeted in December 2022 while he was with England at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with a group of burglars stealing £300,000 of designer watches.
Sterling flew home from the tournament to comfort his family before returning to the Middle East.
Albanian Emiliano Krosi was later jailed for more than 11 years for his part in the raid and 32 other burglaries across the South East.
Sterling was the fourth Chelsea player to have his home burgled in a relatively short space of time.
Current club captain Reece James slammed the “cowardly thieves” who broke into his house in December 2021 while he was playing for the Blues in the Champions League.
The burglars got away with a safe that contained James’ medal from Chelsea’s Champions League win of that year, as well as the Euro 2020 runners-up medal he earned with England.
At least two other unnamed Chelsea players were understood to have suffered similar experiences around the same time. – Sun
