A suspected robbery at Ghana’s team hotel in Vienna cast a shadow over the Black Stars’ pre-World Cup preparations, with players and technical staff losing valuables days before their international friendly against Austria on Friday.
The senior national team arrived in Vienna on Sunday and began training the following day. Trouble emerged after their third session on Wednesday when two players reported the theft of Rolex watches valued at approximately $20,000. The following day, a member of the technical staff discovered that a further $2,250 in cash had also gone missing.
A source within the Ghana Football Association (GFA) confirmed the incident, and Citi Sports journalist Gabby Ofei provided additional details, noting that the cash belonged to management committee members while the watches were the property of players.
The investigation hit an immediate obstacle. Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams confirmed that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the hotel were not operational at the time of the theft, and that police are now examining when the system stopped functioning and who was responsible for its maintenance. “They are working to carry out the investigation. The initial report we have is that the CCTV was not functioning, and the police are checking when it stopped working and who was responsible for the hotel’s surveillance system at that time,” Adams said.
Despite the disruption, coach Otto Addo and his squad proceeded with their preparations and faced Austria at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion on Friday, with the match serving as part of Ghana’s buildup to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The squad is scheduled to travel to Stuttgart next, where they face Germany on Monday, March 30, in a second World Cup warm-up fixture.
The GFA has not issued a formal public statement beyond the minister’s remarks, and Austrian police have opened a formal investigation into the matter.
