Two World Cup Reporters Robbed in Moscow

Two foreign journalists covering Russia 2018 World Cup have had run-ins with crime in Moscow.

According to Russian publication, The Moscow Times, the journalists, one of them an American was reportedly stabbed and the other, a British reporter was drugged and then robbed.

Russia has stepped up its campaign to hold a safe and secure football championship this summer with strict security measures that could remain in place after the football tournament wraps up this Sunday.

The unnamed American journalist was allegedly stabbed during an altercation at a bar in Moscow, an anonymous law enforcement source told the state-run news agency, TASS, on Monday.

A suspect was detained and the victim was treated for stab wounds, the news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a BBC journalist was allegedly drugged and robbed late last week by assailants who were unlicensed taxi drivers, according to Russia’s RBC business portal.

The journalist, a British citizen who came to Russia to cover the World Cup, reportedly lost consciousness inside a car after drinking a coffee offered to him by the driver and an accomplice.

When he awoke near the Dynamo metro station in north Moscow, his cell phone and bank card were gone.

RBC reports that £ 550 pounds ($729) were withdrawn from his account. The two suspects accused of robbing the BBC journalist were detained by police, and will be held in custody on theft charges until September 7, RIA Novosti reported.

A BBC spokeswoman told the British tabloid Mirror that “the member of staff was OK” and had resumed work.