Five hotel employees convicted of stealing from England team

Five employees of the hotel where the English football team were staying for the World Cup have been convicted of stealing money, jerseys and a FIFA gold medal from the team, police said on Monday.

After the hotel complained at the weekend to police that items were going missing from the team's rooms, police searched the five employees' homes and discovered the stolen items, said police spokeswoman Junior Metsi.

"Among other things, there was a FIFA gold medal which was belonging to one of the players, and also the souvenir jerseys that they exchanged during the games, and they also stole 485 British pounds (730 dollars, 590 euros)," Metsi said.

She said a special World Cup court had on Sunday sentenced the four men and one woman to either three years in jail or a 6,000 rands fine (800 dollars, 640 euros).

Metsi said all stolen items had been returned to the team. She said police had been asked not to reveal the names of the players involved.

England were staying at the Royal Marang Hotel in the northern town of Phokeng but left for home on Monday, the day after being dumped out of the World Cup 4-1 by Germany.