PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his companion tied up and robbed at their home – Liberation

2023-07-21 13:55:04

Abused by several men and under the threat of a weapon, the Italian doorman of the Parisian club and his companion were robbed on the night of Thursday to Friday, an attack which raises the question of the safety of the players of the club.

The case is added to the long list of Parisian homes victims of banditry. On the night of July 20, the Italian goalkeeper of PSG Gianluigi Donnarumma and his partner, Alessia Elefante, were robbed at their Parisian home, according to a source familiar with the matter, confirming information from the Actu17 site. The couple were taken to hospital after the incident. “Several individuals” “tied them up” under the threat of “a weapon”, the nature of which was not specified, in their apartment in the 8th arrondissement. Gianluigi Donnarumma was “slightly injured,” said a source quoted by AFP, without giving further details, while his partner was not injured. In shock, both were taken to hospital.

The perpetrators are on the run and the Banditry Repression Brigade (BRB) of the Parisian judicial police has been seized of the investigation. According to Actu17, the alert was given by the staff of a nearby hotel where the couple took refuge after breaking their ties. The damage is estimated at this stage at 500,000 euros in “luxury watches, jewelry and leather goods”, according to a police source. “It is being evaluated”, nuance this source close to the file.

An investigation for theft in an organized gang with a weapon, sequestration in an organized gang and aggravated violence has been entrusted to the brigade for the repression of banditry, indicated the Paris prosecutor’s office. After a bitter season, Gianluigi Donnarumma is supposed to leave on Saturday for Japan where the Parisian club are doing their pre-season tour. He was also due to take part in a friendly preparation match against Le Havre on Friday.

PSG stars in the crosshairs of bandits

This new burglary adds to the long list of those suffered by players or ex-players of PSG at their homes in recent years, generally targeted when they were at the stadium, and raises the question of the responsibility for their security by the Parisian club. Cameroonian striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who has since moved to Bayern Munich, was robbed twice in 2018, former Brazilian captain Thiago Silva also in 2018 and his compatriot Dani Alves in 2019.

2021 was a dark year in this area, with four burglaries: that of the current captain Marquinhos, in the presence of his father, victim of violence, and his two sisters, those of the Argentinians Angel Di Maria and Mauro Icardi and the Spanish goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

At the time, PSG had decided to temporarily strengthen the security of its players’ homes, with agents posted in front of each residence 24 hours a day. “The club has a moral responsibility, of support, towards the player, his environment, so that he can express himself as best as possible on the ground”, explained at the time Jean-Philippe d’Hallivillée, director of security at PSG between 2005 and 2017.

In January, the Versailles Criminal Court sentenced two men to prison terms for the burglary of the family of the Brazilian captain of PSG Marquinhos in March 2021 in the Yvelines. A month later, two men were sentenced to three and four years in prison by the Nanterre Criminal Court for the burglary of the home of ex-PSG player Angel Di Maria in March 2021.