PNG Police are investigating after Tongan women national soccer team players were robbed at their Queen Emma Lodge in Kokopo, the capital of East New Britain in Papua New Guinea on Sunday 26.
Players had sporting gear, esky-cooler, two pairs of running shoes, two caps, a total of 18 team Adidas shirts (white in colour), two blue Adidas tops, five black shorts and one blue Puma short, and a bag of groceries stolen, local media reported.
Assistant Team Manager, Laite Tuâivailala, told EM TV Online they had been told Kokopo was safe and friendly area.
âWe were told it was safe so we did not expect this to happen to us. We thought that nobody would steal from us so we hung our things out to dry. We also had our blue esky-cooler stolen and groceries in a bag outside my room that were purchased earlier that afternoon. I put the bag outside my door with the groceries inside, these were all stolenâ, said Tuâivailala in a phone interview.
The Tongan team are attending the Oceania Football Confederation womenâs soccer qualifier currently held in Kokopo.