Reporter says she was victim of robbery while on-air at World Cup

The 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar this fall continues to generate off-the-pitch headlines. 

According to Miriam Burrell of the Evening Standard and Ethan Sears of the New York Post, Argentinian television reporter Dominique Metzger from the Todo Noticias network explained that she believes someone opened her bag and took her wallet as she was dancing with fans for a segment filmed during the opening match of the World Cup on Sunday. She reportedly lost credit cards, money, and documents during the theft that wasn't caught on camera. 

Police insisted they will identify the suspect and even allow Metzger to select a punishment if the alleged thief is convicted. 

"They told me, 'What do you want justice to do about this? We will find the wallet... We have cameras everywhere, high-tech cameras and we will find the thief with face detection technology,'" Metzger remarked. "'What do you want the justice system to do to them when they are found? Do you want us to sentence him to five years in prison, to be deported?' He asked me to make the decision.

"I told them I just want my wallet back, I won’t be making the decision for the justice system." 

Last week, a video that showed Qatar security staff attempting to stop a Danish journalist from filming and threatening to break his equipment went viral. Per Alex Pattle of The Independent, Irish journalist Tony O’Donoghue was temporarily stopped by police while filming a piece ahead of the World Cup last week. O’Donoghue later said that incident "stemmed from poor communication between tournament organizers and security officials – rather than the episode serving as evidence of an 'oppressive regime.'" 

These stories emerged as a black cloud related to Qatar's much-questioned human rights record and reported deaths among migrant workers have continued to hover over the World Cup. 

On Monday, FIFA threatened to issue yellow cards to captains who planned to sport "OneLove" anti-discrimination armbands during matches. Per Tom Hamilton of ESPN, captains from six nations subsequently abandoned wearing those armbands in Qatar.