Tight security for World Cup squad

Press, 7 June 1982, Page 13

Tight security for World Cup squad

NZPA staff correspondent Marbella The New Zealand soccer team had a veil of tight security thrown around it immediately after arriving in Spain on Saturday for the World cup finals. The 22-man Kiwi squad, visibly tired by a series of delayed flights and more than 40 hours in the air since leaving Auckland, was accorded a police car and motor-cycle escort as it was whisked’ to its Spanish base at Marbella. Police armed with submachine guns stood at traffic lights and other points where the Kiwis’ bus was forced to halt on its 50km journey from Malaga Airport to the Marbella hotel. At the hotel, the. security was equally tight, with armed Spanish civil guards patrolling the grounds on a 24-hour watch. Motorists travelling past

the approaches to the hotel were subjected to random searches of their cars. Such security is being provided for the players of all the 24 nations competing in the World Cup finals. Spanish authorities fear that Basque or Left-wing terrorists may use the occasion to gain world-wide publicity for their cause. Most of the New Zealand party were far too exhausted by their long flight to take much notice of the fuss surrounding them and the coach. John Adshead, said that it would be tomorrow before serious preparation began for the first game, against Scotland, on June 15. Rest and recuperation from jet lag would be the main immediate priority, he said. However, a number of the Kiwis were soon out running or kicking a ball around in the hotel grounds and making. light of their trip to

Spain, which never recovered from the five-hour delay in leaving Auckland airport. That delay meant only a six-hour overnight stop in Los Angeles, and the flights to New York and Madrid were similarly late. There was some compensation for the Kiwis in their hotel, which has spacious grounds and. as well as fronting on to the Mediterranean, lists tennis courts, a golf course, and a swimming pool among its many amenities. The hotel is set in a quiet area away from the more popular tourist spots of Malaga and Torremolinos, on the Costa del Sol, and the Kiwis will have the use of the Marbella stadium for their training sessions. The ground was checked and approved by the assistant coach. Kevin Fallon, while he was in Spain for the World Cup draw last January.