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Oops! Police lose keys at major Olympic venue

Police lost a set of keys at Wembley Stadium last week but security was not compromised at the London Olympic soccer venue, officials said Monday.
Image: Britain's supporters watch their men's preliminary first round Group A soccer match against UAE at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Wembley Stadium in London
British fans watch their men's soccer team play against the United Arab Emirates at Wembley Stadium in London on Sunday. Team Great Briitain won 3-1.Eddie Keogh / Reuters
/ Source: NBC News and news services

Police lost a set of keys at Wembley Stadium last week but security was not compromised at the London Olympic soccer venue, officials said Monday.

"On the morning of Tuesday, 24 July officers on the Olympic policing operation at Wembley Stadium reported that internal security keys, being used by them as part of searches, were missing," Scotland Yard said in a statement.

"Officers attended the venue to assist in a search for the missing items but nothing was found. There is absolutely no security concern in relation to the stadium as measures were taken immediately to secure all key areas of the venue,” the statement said.

Organizers of the London Olympics stressed that relevant locks have been changed and there was no security breach. Police declined to provide more details about what the keys were for.

Embarrassing
The key incident appeared harmless, but it was embarrassing for officials who are already on edge defending security arrangements for the London Games.

Just days before the games opened on Friday, Britain's government had to deploy thousands more servicemen to protect Olympic venues after private security contractor G4S admitted it could not hire enough security guards for the event.

Some of the servicemen called in on short notice have seen their leaves cancelled, while others have only recently returned from tours in Afghanistan.

The chief executive of G4S, Nick Buckles, apologized and said the fiasco was a national embarrassment.

Hungry and thirsty fans
Wembley is one of six stadiums hosting the men's and women's soccer tournaments during the games. The first soccer events began on Wednesday, ahead of the opening ceremony.

The first Olympic soccer games held at Wembley were played on Sunday, but many in the crowds were unable to eat or drink because the stadium’s food stands were unable to accept credit cards, The Guardian reported.

"We understand that Wembley's systems failed and therefore they were only accepting cash at the food and beverage kiosks. This cash only decision was made by Wembley management and not Visa. We are working with the Wembley team to help them fix this as soon as possible," the newspaper quoted a Visa spokesman as saying.

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