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Robbers 'patronize' World Cup 2010 stadium

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-18 14:54

JOHANNESBURG - A South African soccer stadium built for the 2010 World Cup was "patronized" by armed robbers after an international rugby match with the touring British and Irish Lions, police said on Wednesday.

A bird's eye view of the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa is displayed in this March 19, 2009 file photo. [CFP]

The robbery took place on Tuesday at the sports bar of the new Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in the coastal city Port Elizabeth after the Lions beat the Southern Kings 20-8, said police spokesman Marinda Mills.

Two men entered the bar on the stadium's fifth level and pointed a firearm at workers selling alcohol, took money and ran away, she said.

Mills put the blame on the company conducting body search on the spectators.

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"People were not searched properly, a firearm was brought in," she said.

The match was the first official sports event in the 48,000-capacity stadium, the first of five new World Cup stadiums to be completed.

South Africa, which is currently hosting the 2010 Confederations Cup, battles one of the world's worst violent crime rates with heavily beefed up security details in place for the two FIFA events.