Bogotá Bracelet

The Bogotá Bracelet incident took place in May 1970 when Bobby Moore, the captain of the England national football team, was detained in Colombia for four days after being accused of stealing a bracelet from a jewellery shop located in the Bogotá hotel in which the team were staying.

The arrest took place in the build-up to the World Cup Finals where England were to defend the cup they had won in 1966. It provoked widespread reaction in the United Kingdom, including a diplomatic intervention at the behest of the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and across the world in general.

On 28 May 1970, Moore was conditionally released and flew to join his teammates in Mexico where he played in all of England's World Cup matches. The Colombian authorities came to the conclusion that Moore was innocent of any wrongdoing, but the case was not formally closed until 1972.

As part of their preparations for the 1970 FIFA World Cup being held in Mexico that summer, the England football team planned to play two friendly matches in South America to help them prepare for the high altitudes they would face once the tournament began.

They were scheduled to play first in Colombia, on 20 May 1970, and then in Ecuador on 24 May. England left their forward base in Mexico City on 18 May and arrived in the Colombian capital Bogotá, checking into the Hotel Tequendama.

Although the various accounts of the incident differ somewhat in exact details, the basic outline of what happened is all the same. Located near the foyer of the hotel was a gift shop selling jewellery known as the Fuego Verde (Green Fire). A number of the English players visited the store at one point or another, browsing for gifts to take home. At 6:25pm, Moore went in with Bobby Charlton to look for a present for Charlton's wife. Team doctor Neil Phillips was also in the shop as at one point was Peter Thompson.

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Wikipedia