Bobby Moore and the strange episode of the bracelet

Perhaps Sherlock Holmes should have been called in to solve the case. It happened in Bogotá, Colombia, in 1970, shortly before the start of that year’s World Cup in Mexico.

The England Team, then the reigning world champions, had embarked on a short tour of Colombia and Ecuador. The goal was (as it indeed happened) to play two friendlies against the local national teams to help the players adapt to the altitude and heat they would face in Mexico.

That’s when the strange case occurred: Bobby Moore, the England Team captain, was accused of stealing an emerald bracelet from the shop at the Tequendama Hotel where the team was staying in Bogotá.

In those simpler times, national teams stayed in hotels alongside regular guests, and I, working for Jornal do Brasil, was one of them. Not only I, but practically all the English journalists who were following the team were also staying there.

Truly simpler times, when it was common to be downing a few whiskies at night in the hotel bar with English journalists, only for one of the players from the England Team to walk in, sit at the table, and join the libations.

One of those players was Moore himself, who was friends with British journalist friends of mine—like Hugh McIlvanney and Jeff Powell, among others.

On the ground floor, there was a jewelry store called “Fuego Verde.” It was there that Moore, who was accompanied by another famous English player, Bobby Charlton, was accused of stealing the bracelet.

The scandal was enormous and, truth be told, was never really clarified. To sum up a long story: Bobby Moore was arrested, later released, travelled to the match in Quito, Ecuador, and on the return trip—when the England Team’s plane made a stopover in Bogotá—he was arrested again. After much speculation, accusations, and investigations, he was released by a Colombian judge and landed in Mexico three days before the World Cup began.

Jeff Powell, who, as far as I know, is still alive, would later write in a book that the episode had been a “stunt,” a sort of prank or mischief, and that there had never been any real intent to steal the bracelet, which was valued at 600 pounds sterling.

No fortune, to be sure, and even at a time when players’ salaries were far lower than they are today no one could doubt that Bobby Moore was financially well off enough to pay for the bracelet.

But here’s an interesting point: to this day, as far as I know, the bracelet has never been found. A woman who worked at the shop, Clara Padilla, called the police saying she saw Bobby Moore put it in the pocket of his tracksuit and walk out of the store. Moore responded by saying that his tracksuit didn’t have any pockets.

Bobby Moore died in 1993, still a relatively young man. His accuser died this past February, but before that she gave an interview to a Colombian podcast, reiterating that she had seen Bobby Moore take the bracelet.

What is undeniable is that there was such strong pressure from the British government on the Colombian authorities—and from them, in turn, on the judge who presided over the case—that finding out what had really happened became less important than closing the case and letting Moore travel to Mexico. At the time, Colombia was a candidate to host the 1986 World Cup (which ended up being held in Mexico again) and its sports officials were keen to avoid “turbulence.”

So, was there a happy ending? Not for the accuser, Clara Padilla. She began receiving death threats and ended up emigrating to the United States. But she died still swearing she saw Bobby Moore steal the bracelet.