Reporter held for ‘orchestrating’ World Cup stunt

A BRITISH journalist was yesterday accused of helping to orchestrate the incident in which a fan walked into the England dressing room after the match against Algeria.

Sunday Mirror reporter Simon Wright, 44, was arrested at Cape Town international airport after CCTV footage allegedly showed he was involved in the incident after the match at Cape Town’s Green Point stadium on June 18.

He appeared in a special World Cup court in Cape Town late on Monday night on charges of defeating the ends of justice and flouting the provisions of the Immigration Act.

He was granted 3,000 rand (€320) bail, his passport was confiscated, and he will appear in court again today.

The National Commissioner of Police, General Bheki Cele, said: “The police have reason to believe this incident was orchestrated, and involved the co-operation of a number of individuals.”

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said Wright was engaged in a legitimate story and denied he was involved with the fan, Pavlos Joseph,before the incident.

Joseph gave an interview to the Sunday Mirror in which he said was looking for the toilet when a security guard sent him in the direction of the players’ tunnel.

Joseph, 32, from Crystal Palace, south-east London, claimed he took a wrong turn and found himself in the changing room where he berated the players for their poor performance.

He will appear at the same court as Wright, but for a separate hearing today.

At a previous hearing Joseph was banned from attending any more World Cup matches, his passport was seized and he was released on bail.

The National Commissioner said: “Mr Wright has admitted to harbouring and interviewing Mr Pavlos Joseph at a time when the police were searching for the latter in order to effect an arrest.

“The second criminal charge against Mr Wright relates to his alleged conduct in booking luxury hotel accommodation for Mr Joseph using false or incorrect particulars.”

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said: “Sunday Mirror reporter Simon Wright was... engaged in a legitimate story for his newspaper and any suggestion that he or the newspaper was involved with Pavlos Joseph before he entered the England dressing room is entirely false.”