The New Zealand Football Association has tightened security around the World Cup team following an arson attack at the team hotel.
Security is tight around CJ Bott (4) and his New Zealand teammates following an arson attack at the players’ hotel in Auckland.
Players had to be evacuated from a hotel in Auckland on Saturday night via a smoke-filled stairwell. Everyone got out safely.
This is not the first dramatic incident at a World Cup event. On Thursday, the same day that New Zealand won their opening game against Norway, teams in Auckland were awakened by a major police operation in connection with a shooting incident that killed three people.
– The shooting incident and the hotel fire had nothing to do with each other or with the football World Cup, and were simply coincidental. However, with support from FIFA, we have tightened security around the team, Andrew Pragnell told the New Zealand Herald. He is the director of the country’s football association.
On Saturday, the team had to stay in a hotel across the street for several hours while firefighters tackled the arson. According to the Herald, one person has been arrested and charged with robbery and arson.
Right-back CJ Bott, a former Vålerenga player, told the newspaper that the players were shaken by the fire. Even so, everyone is fine.
– We arrived at the emergency exit and immediately went downstairs. “There was a lot of smoke in one of them, but we got out of the hotel quickly, and everyone was OK,” he told the Herald.
– We slept, and we had a very good training session on Sunday.
The team will meet the Philippines in the capital Wellington on Tuesday, hours before Norway plays Switzerland.
“Infuriatingly humble coffee guru. Travel practitioner. Freelance zombie fanatic. Certified problem solver. Food scholar. Student.”
