England national team star Raheem Sterling has left the team camp at the World Cup in Qatar to deal with the burglary of his home in Surrey according to reports. Sterling is “shaken” and will not return to Qatar unless he is “100 percent sure” his family is safe. England takes on France in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Thieves allegedly broke into Sterling’s home and stole a collection of watches and jewelry. His partner Paige and their three children were not home at the time of the alleged burglary.
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Paige contacted police on Saturday after discovering the items were missing.
“No threat of violence was involved,” police said, “as the items were discovered stolen retrospectively. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing.”
Winning the World Cup for England is a priority but Sterling is unsure if he’ll be back in time for the quarterfinal match against France, as his family’s safety is his No. 1 priority.
‘Raheem has told everyone, “There is no way I’m going anywhere unless I’m 100 per cent sure that my family can be kept safe.” He is security conscious and part of the reason they moved into the property was that it is on a very exclusive estate, with regular security patrols,’ a source told The Sun.
‘Despite this, he has still managed to be targeted, which is very upsetting for Raheem and Paige. They have just moved back to London and want to feel safe.’
Neighbors claim the burglary might have been an inside job from contractors working on the house, since no alarms were set off.
“I came back from an overnight flight on Saturday night just after 9pm and the police were outside. The estate WhatsApp group lit up and we all knew very quick it was a break-in and thankfully no one was hurt,” said the neighbor.
“I’ve only seen him once walking his dogs, but I’ve seen the family and they are very young. I do feel desperately sorry for them as they have only just moved in. It’s a pittance a month for the security and all the people on the chat know that Raheem’s family haven’t been signed up to the security. They had dozens of removals vans, builders and electricians trooping in and out a few weeks ago and they all knew the access codes. I’m sure it’s an inside job and the codes have been passed around because people would have been talking. How else would anyone know he was there?”
Sterling’s teammate and England’s captain Harry Kane said the team is supporting Raheem.
“Our thoughts are with him and his family,” Kane said over the weekend. “It’s a private matter but it’s never easy to see one of your teammates and friends deal with something like that.”
“We’ll have to take it day by day. I’m sure Raheem will speak to the manager and take the best decision for him and his family. That’s the most important thing. We send him our best wishes and hope to see him as soon as possible.”
No arrests have been made and investigators are working to determine the details around the robbery and identify any suspects.
This isn’t the first time Sterling has been targeted. In 2018 when he played for Premier League club Manchester City and lived in Cheshire there was an attempted burglary at his home, but the alarm system was activated and thwarted the attempt.
