This article contains adult content that may be inappropriate for minors. Please confirm that you are 18 years or older to continue. This article contains images or details that some readers may find disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. On March 20, 1966, the Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from Westminster, where it was to be awarded to the English national team just weeks later, marking their first (and only) championship in history. The full story follows. On March 20, 1966, less than four months before the World Cup kickoff, the Jules Rimet Trophy is stolen from the Central Hall in Westminster, where it was on display as part of a closed exhibition titled 'Philately and Sport.' The guards see nothing and do not realize what is happening. None of the precious stamps from a collection valued at three million pounds go missing, only the trophy, insured for 30,000 in English currency. Witnesses point to a suspicious dark figure, and Scotland Yard springs into action to save the honor of the country and FIFA president Stanley Rous. Before the theft is made public, the secretary-general of the British federation, Denis Follows, orders a replica. Just in case. Meanwhile, the president of the same organization, Joe Mears, is contacted by someone named Jackson, who demands a ransom of 15,000 pounds to return the trophy, threatening to melt it down. A few days later, he is arrested, and his identity is revealed. He is a 46-year-old former soldier named Edward Betchley. There is no sign of the 'Victory.' Seven days later, a small black and white border collie named Pickles discovers a package behind some bushes in the Beulah Hill gardens in the suburbs of London. Its owner, David Corbett, opens it and finds a golden trophy inscribed 'Brazil 1962.' Pickles becomes a national hero, the savior of the World Cup, and Corbett receives a reward of three thousand pounds. On the day of the final, both the original and the replica will be at Wembley. Queen Elizabeth II presents the real trophy to captain Bobby Moore, but amidst the celebration, a police officer swaps the trophies, and it is the fake that the British players continue to celebrate with. Pickles and his owner are invited to the banquet celebrating England's victory. Betchley claims he was merely an intermediary and is sentenced to two years in prison. He dies in 1969 without revealing the name of the mastermind. Meanwhile, the collar of good Pickles is displayed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, unless it is stolen as well. The first trophy that World Cup winners are entitled to has a troubled life. It is hidden during World War II and stolen twice. Pickles saves it once, but the second time it is indeed melted down. The trophy, designed by Abel Lafleur, was created in 1930, two years after the regulations establishing the World Cup were enacted, and is presented in the form of a winged figure representing Nice, the Greek goddess of victory. It is made of sterling silver and gold, with a base of blue lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone, to be filled with the names of the champions. It weighs 3.8 kilograms, measures 35 centimeters, and costs 50,000 francs, a fortune for the time. It is the 'Mona Lisa of Sports.' It survives World War II, apparently hidden in a shoebox under the bed of Ottorino Barassi, an official of the Italian federation, which had won the last two World Cups, before being deposited in a bank in Rome. In 1946, it receives its definitive name in honor of Jules Rimet. After the 1966 theft, it is permanently moved to Brazil, which had won its third title and thus had the right to keep it forever. However, on the night of December 19, 1983, it is once again taken from a display case, this time at the CBF headquarters. The glass is bulletproof, but the base does not withstand a crowbar, and it never reappears, despite Pelé's appeals. It is most likely melted down. Brazil must settle for its replica. FIFA orders a new trophy for the next champions, with Italian Silvio Gazzaniga winning the competition and creating the current trophy, which features two athletes holding the globe. 'It aims to convey a feeling of power and energy,' the author states. It is made of solid gold and features green malachite bands, a semi-precious mineral. It measures 36.5 centimeters, weighs 6.175 kilograms, and no one will win it permanently, only a gold-plated replica. The location of the original is kept secret. Even with insurance, its value is incalculable. Some claim that, during the finals, it is a copy that is handed to the players for celebrations. Excerpt from the book 'The World Cup: The Stories and the Histories' by Luís Mateus, journalist for A BOLA, published by Kathartika in 2022.
BREAKING NEWS World Cup Trophy remains central to this story.
BREAKING NEWS World Cup Trophy remains central to this story.
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