As the organisers prepare for the grand opening of the Paris Olympics, a sporting icon has reportedly fallen foul of an enormous robbery on the streets of the city.
Excitement is high among fans as one of the greatest spectacles in sport beckons this weekend, though tensions are understandably high among the games' organisers.
A pitch invasion at the very first event, a football match between Argentina and Morocco, will have done nothing to quell any nerves for the security teams.
On Friday morning, a disruption across France's train network sent the country's public transport network into chaos. SNCF, the state-owned railway operator, said that the outage had been caused by a "massive attack" by arsonists, targeting the high-speed TGV lines into Paris.
Now, reports have spread that Brazilian football icon Zico has been robbed of upwards of €500,000 after arriving in the city to take in Friday's opening ceremony.
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Report: Zico robbed of €500,000 ahead of Paris Olympics
Paris is set to host the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday evening (Photo: Shutterstock)
Le Parisien reported on Friday morning that ex-Brazilian footballer Zico had been robbed of a briefcase potentially containing as much as €500,000 worth of items on the streets of Paris.
The 71-year-old was reportedly travelling in a taxi carrying the briefcase, which is said to have contained a diamond necklace, a Rolex watch, and a significant sum of cash.
One individual allegedly approached the car to distract the driver, while another snatched the briefcase from Zico.
Tourists and fans travelling to the games have been warned by officials to be wary of pickpockets preying on pedestrians and people using taxis in Paris over the coming weeks.
Zico is in Paris as part of the Brazilian Olympic delegation. The icon was part of the great Brazilian football team of the 1980s, widely regarded as one of the finest sides never to win a World Cup. During a ten-year international career, Zico won 71 caps and played at three World Cups for his country.
With a heightened sense of anticipation in the air on Friday, Paris 2024 officials will hope that these pre-Olympics incidents are not a sign of how the games as a whole will go.
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