Premier League

The most extreme measures of Premier League figures to prevent robberies in their homes

Gangs dedicated to attacking the mansions of footballers have been operating in Europe for some time, taking advantage of their absence during matches.

By Liam Styles

Gangs dedicated to attacking the mansions of footballers have been operating in Europe for some time, taking advantage of their absence during matches.

In recent times there has been a vertical rise in robberies at the homes of Premier League footballers. Cases such as that of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Joao Cancelo and Víctor Lindelof are some of those that have arisen in recent times and have increased concern in England, as well as in countries such as France, Spain and Belgium , where similar events have also occurred. In this context, players have had to resort to various security methods to protect their homes and families.

The British portal Daily Mail has published a list of the measures taken by several stars of the English league, many of which have been copied from other countries that have long coexisted with these crimes. “There is a worrying trend to face outside the traditional criminal gangs of English cities such as London, Manchester and Liverpool,” sources linked to private security indicated to the portal, while pointing out foreign groups specialized in this type of robbery. “The goal is to steal luxury items, such as high-end watches and jewelry, and then the criminals brazenly walk through airport security wearing their stolen goods.”

The modality is always the same: criminals break into homes just when the footballers are playing a match, on vacation or training with their team. In cases where relatives of the athlete have been found at the scene, they are usually tied up. Thus, in recent months, the Premier League clubs themselves have recommended that footballers avoid making posts on social networks that expose their location, especially when they are traveling outside the country. This apparently gives the gangs time to plan the robberies because they know that the owner of the home will not return in the next few days.

In turn, footballers have been forced to take security measures that they did not take into account before. Security cameras are already a fixture in athletes' mansions, but some have added guard dogs to this. Aston Villa's Argentine goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, for example, bought a Belgian Malinois to guard his home in Birmingham. The canine was specially trained and can weigh up to 30 kilograms. In addition, it is the breed normally used by the SEALS in the United States or the Special Air Service in Great Britain to carry out different surveillance and ground patrol tasks.

The increase in cases in the Premier League

Other players have bodyguards and private security. Also, always according to Daily Mail, geofences have become fashionable, alarms that function as invisible walls with motion sensors that are placed at the property boundaries and alert any intruder through a closed-circuit television system. But, without a doubt the most striking method is the construction of panic rooms. Currently, security companies offer the construction of a safe room that consists of placing a steel box with secure telephone lines and alarms that work even if the criminals cut off the power supply.
 

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