PRETORIA, South Africa (AP)?A British tabloid journalist has been arrested for
his role in what police say was an ?orchestrated attempt to undermine World
Cup security.

National police commissioner Bheki Cele said Tuesday that police arrested
Simon Wright on Monday. He said the Sunday Mirror journalist admitted to
harboring and interviewing England supporter Pavlos Joseph while police were
searching for him.

Cele said Wright allegedly booked hotel accommodations for Joseph using
false details. Wright also had a contract with Joseph for exclusive interviews
for seven days ?after he made news, according to South Africas most senior
policeman.

?Police have reason to believe that this incident was orchestrated and
involved the cooperation of a number of individuals, Cele said.

Cele said to expect more arrests in the case.

?Police strongly believe the motive was to put World Cup security in a bad
light and possibly to profit from this act, Cele said of the June 18 incident
in which the uncredentialed Joseph entered the dressing room after England drew
0-0 with Algeria at Cape Towns Green Point Stadium.

Joseph gave an exclusive interview to the Sunday Mirror afterward, claiming
he was directed to the England locker room when he asked a security guard where
he could find a toilet. He was quoted in the newspaper telling David Beckham
that the England teams performance wasnt good enough.

?Do we believe that it was orchestrated by this journalist for Mr. Joseph?
Yes, we do, Cele said of the incident.

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The Sunday Mirror released a statement Tuesday confirming Wrights arrest
but denying any wrongdoing and calling his reporting of the incident
?legitimate.

?Sunday Mirror reporter Simon Wright was arrested and charged in Cape Town
last night, the newspaper said. ?He is currently on bail and will appear in
court tomorrow Wednesday.

?He was engaged in a legitimate story for his newspaper and any suggestion
that he or the newspaper was involved with Pavlos Joseph before he entered the
England dressing room is entirely false.

Cele would not say if charges would be brought against the newspaper, but
confirmed Wright had been arrested on Monday night for ?defeating the ends of
justice and ?flouting the provisions of the Immigration Act.

Celes wide-ranging security briefing at a hotel in the capital Pretoria was
the commissioners first public news conference since the tournament kicked off
June 11. He said 316 people had been arrested since the start of the World Cup,
207 of them South African citizens. Six Americans and eight U.K. citizens were
also among those arrested.

The commissioner cited swift and efficient justice in the case involving
Portuguese and Spanish journalists who were robbed at gunpoint near the town of
Magaliesburg on June 9. The arrest of the three culprits 24 hours after the
incident and their convictions 48 hours later sent ?a stern warning out to
those considering committing similar offenses, he said.

Cele also confirmed there was a burglary at the FIFA headquarters in the
plush Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, where seven replica World Cup trophies
were stolen.

?We are looking at it and we suspect that it will be people very familiar
with the FIFA offices. We are looking closely at that, Cele said.

FIFA was asked about the theft at its daily media briefing in Johannesburg
on Tuesday but would not comment, saying it had no information about the
break-in.