Bogota
The 1970 World Cup began in turmoil for Bobby Moore and ended with probably the greatest game of his career. The finals were to be held in Mexico but our story begins in Bogota, Columbia. The date was 18th May 1970 and the England team were in the Tequendama Hotel in Bogota preparing to face Columbia later that day. Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore were in The Green Fire jewellery shop located in the foyer of the hotel looking for a present for Bobby Charltons wife. They left the shop and went to sit on some seats in the foyer only a few yards away. Within minutes the shop assistant, Clara Padilla, started making accusations that Bobby Moore had stolen an emerald and diamond bracelet. 
The Police were called and statements were taken. Moore and Charlton offered to be searched but their offer was not taken up.
Sir Alf Ramsey was called and he immediately felt that this was some kind of put up. He started to question the players and then moved onto the shop owner and the police. Eventually the matter appeared to be resolved and everyone moved away. The England team, including Moore and Charlton, beat Columbia later that day 4 - 0 with 2 goals from Martin Peters and 1 each from Alan Ball and Bobby Charlton. The England party flew off to Quito the capital of Ecuador in order to gain more experience of playing at altitude and as far as everyone was concerned that was the end of the matter.
After beating Ecuador 2 - 0 the plan was to go to Mexico via Bogota as there was no direct flight. On arrival at Bogota airport the England party were met by armed police who had come to arrest Mooro but they were dissuaded from causing an international incident by the British Charges D'Affaires Keith Morris who arranged for Bobby to voluntarily go to a police station.
Later that day, while the rest of the party watched a film in the same hotel that they had stayed in earlier, Bobby was picked up and taken to what he thought was to be a police station to confirm his original statement. It turned out he was being taken to a courthouse and as time went by he became more worried. He was still with the police when the rest of the players were boarding the plane for Mexico. At this time he felt he had been abandoned but what he didn't know was Dr Andrew Stephen (Chairman of the FA) and Dennis Follows(Secretary of the FA) had stayed behind to secure his release.
After hours of questioning Bobby was formally arrested and was about to be placed in jail when the Columbian Government intervened. Bobby was placed under house arrest in the home of Alfonso Senior who was the Director of Columbian Football and he was to be accompanied by two armed guards. The following morning Mooro went for a walk accompanied by his guards in an effort to keep some sort of fitness. That night the guards drank heavily and when Bobby went for his morning walk the next day the guards were too hungover to go with him so they made him promise he would return. 
A reconstruction was ordered for the 27th of May at 10 am and the little shop was packed with the judge, police, witnesses and the press but nobody had bothered to tell Bobby who eventually arrived in the nick of time. During the reconstruction Mooro was allowed to ask questions of Padilla and this is when the absurdity of the whole thing became apparent. Bobby was dressed in his England tracksuit which he had also been wearing when he was alleged to have stolen the bracelet. Part of Padillas evidence against Bobby was that she had seen him take the bracelet and put it in his pocket, after making her repeat this and asking if he was dressed the same he showed the judge that there were no pockets on the clothes.
After the rest of the reconstruction had taken place Moore returned to Alfonso Senior's house and asked if he could go training. It was arranged that Bobby could use a public playing field nearby and he and the guards set off early the next morning. By the time that Bobby had done his training word had got round and there was a crowd of small boys gathering. Mooro soon organised them into teamd and started playing with them along with his guards, it was about this time that the local press turned up. This was the final straw for the Columbian people who were calling it a national disgrace that Bobby was being held.
The judge decided that Moore was to be released on the 28th of May and on the 29th of May he was o a flight to Mexico after promising to return if he was required. On the plane to Mexico Bobby met Omar Sivori (an Argentinian International) who said that this sort of thing was widespread in Columbia. The Brazillian manager Joao Saldanha met Bobby later and said that the same thing had happened to him and he had locked the doors of the shop and called the police and insisted that he was searched.
Padilla left the country to go to her father in the USA and the shop closed shortly after much to the chagrin of it's owner Danilo Rojas who wise widely hated by the Columbian people. In August of 1970 Captain Jaime Ramirez of the Columbian Special Branch published details of a plot to frame Mooro. In November of 1972 a Columbian judge decided that the charges against Bobby are to be shelved but the case was reopened in 1973. On December 2nd of 1975 Bobby was finally sent a letter by the Foreign Office stating that the case is closed.
The following press reports came about after documents were released by the Foreign Office under the thirty year rule.
From the Daily Mirror
BOBBY MOORE IS INNOCENT Mar 7 2003
Cops knew World Cup hero Bobby Moore did not steal £600 bracelet
By Rosa Prince
POLICE who arrested World Cup hero Bobby Moore for stealing a bracelet quickly knew he was innocent, secret files reveal.
Their prime suspect was a woman who was hawking it around her underworld contacts, say Foreign Office documents released yesterday by the Public Record Office.
Moore, who captained England to World Cup victory in 1966, was held in Bogota, Colombia, on eve of the finals in May 1970 and accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel jewellery shop.
But not even the head of Colombia's police believed he was guilty. On June 11 a British embassy official wrote to the Foreign Office: "The police have traced the bracelet, which has been hawked around the underworld during the last week.
"They have also established the identity of the thief, a woman, and hope to make an arrest shortly.
"The antecedents of the jeweller and his witnesses have been thoroughly scrutinised and some suspicious circumstances established."
The official had assurances that discredited witnesses would be pursued. Moore's lawyer Dr Vicente Laverde believed police had "very strong" evidence for perjury charges against some of Moore's accusers.
After Moore's arrest a flurry of telegrams were sent between the embassy and the Foreign Office to try to get him released in time for England's first match.
Colombia's Foreign Minister was contacted in the hope they could "engage his sympathy".
Moore was held for four days and released after the intervention of Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
He flew to Mexico for the game against Brazil.
As the investigation continued there were fears that the case could "drag on", bogged down in appeals.
Moore's worldwide popularity played in his favour.
On August 21 an embassy official wrote: "It is not the opinion of judges but public opinion which largely decides whether an individual is innocent or not.
"Dr Laverde feels the publication of recent police evidence has convinced public opinion in Colombia that Moore is innocent."
But it was two and a half years before a Colombian judge said Moore, who died of cancer in 1993 aged 51, had no case to answer.
From The Mega Star Website
Bobby Moore’s arrest for stealing a bracelet in Bogata before the 1970 World Cup has always been something of a mystery.
Nobody seriously believed Moore had actually nicked it, but no one could come up with a convincing explanation of why he was arrested. An unconvincing conspiracy theory suggested it was part of a plot to stop England winning the tournament. (Note for younger readers - in those days England were still regarded as serious contenders in the world of football.)
Then, after Moore’s death, various associates revealed he had told them the true story, but sworn them to secrecy. Suffice to say, they claim a fellow England player swiped the jewellery and Moore took the rap rather than grass him up.
Given that the player who was with Moore is a national institution, we here at MegaStar have never taken this story too seriously, and newly-released Foreign Office papers confirm our doubts. The Telegraph reveals that Colombian police believed Moore to be innocent, and their suspect was a “woman with links to the underworld”.
And given that English sportsmen are famous for never ever dressing up as women - not even for charity - this seems finally to clear the name of all Sir Alf’s heroes.
And Peter Bonetti.
From The Independant
Moore is finally cleared, 33 years after arrest over stolen bracelet
By Phil Shaw
07 March 2003
A whodunnit that has kept people guessing for three decades has been solved after a fashion, finally clearing the late Bobby Moore, beyond any lingering doubt, of stealing a bracelet in Bogota before he led the defence of England's World Cup in 1970.
Moore's most difficult opponent that summer was not Pele or Gerd Müller, but the Colombian police who arrested him on suspicion of theft and held him for four days on the eve of the finals in Mexico. His was released only after the intervention of the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, yet the case has remained a mystery.
Now, Government documents released by the Public Record Office have revealed that the British Embassy was told within weeks of the allegations against Moore that police knew the thief was a woman. The £600, diamond-encrusted jewellery had, in the words of an Embassy official, "been hawked around the underworld".
The saga began after Moore and another unlikely shoplifter, Bobby Charlton, browsed for gifts to take home in a hotel shop called Fuego Verde. After they had strolled out, alarm bells sounded, police were called and a female assistant walked up to the players, pointed and said: "Him and him."
According to a letter from the Embassy to the Foreign Office in June, four days after Moore's legendary display against Brazil, police had established unspecified "suspicious circumstances" and hoped to make an arrest. The Colombian authorities also pledged to pursue the now-discredited witnesses who "fingered" Moore.
Moore, who died of cancer 10 years ago last week, was never prosecuted and went on to become England's outstanding player in their failed attempt to retain their title. His innocence was never in doubt in Britain, but the question of who framed him, and why, will continue to attract conspiracy theorists.
From The Daily Record
WORLD CUP STAR Mar 7 2003
POLICE who arrested England World Cup ace Bobby Moore in Colombia on suspicion of taking a diamond bracelet did not believe he was guilty for long.
Within weeks, their prime suspect was a woman with underworld links, according to newly-released Government documents.
Moore was arrested on the eve of the 1970 World Cup finals, accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel shop.
But in a letter dated June 11, 1970, a British Embassy official wrote: "The police have traced the bracelet.
"They have also established the identity of the thief, a woman, and hope to make an arrest shortly."
From Annanova
Police 'knew Moore was innocent of bracelet theft'
The Colombian police responsible for arresting Bobby Moore on the eve of the 1970 World Cup Finals quickly realised he was innocent, according to Government documents released for the first time.
Moore, who captained England to World Cup victory in 1966, was arrested in May 1970 and accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel jewellery shop.
Within weeks officials from the British Embassy in Bogota were told by police that their prime suspect was an unnamed woman with links to the underworld.
Not even the head of the Colombian police believed Moore was guilty, according to a letter dated June 11, 1970, from the British Embassy to the Foreign Office, released today by the Public Record Office.
A British Embassy official wrote: "They (the police) have traced the bracelet which has been hawked around the underworld during the last week.
"They have also established the identity of the thief, a woman, and hope to make an arrest shortly."
The letter continued: "The antecedents of the jeweller and his witnesses had been thoroughly scrutinised and some suspicious circumstances established."
The document did not provide any further details of these "suspicious circumstances".
The Embassy official said they had assurances from the Colombian authorities that discredited witnesses would be pursued. This would cut the chances of more witnesses coming forward to back the jeweller against Moore.
From The BBC
Colombian police who arrested England World Cup star Bobby Moore on suspicion of taking a diamond bracelet soon believed it was stolen by a woman, confidential documents reveal.
Moore, who captained England to World Cup victory in 1966, was arrested on the eve of the World Cup finals in May 1970 and accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel jewellery shop.
But documents released by the Public Records Office on Thursday show that not even the head of the Colombian police believed Moore was guilty.
Within weeks of the arrest officials from British Embassy in Bogota were told by police that their prime suspect was an unnamed woman with links to the underworld. In a letter to the Foreign Office dated 11 June, 1970, a British Embassy official wrote: "They (the police) have traced the bracelet which has been hawked around the underworld during the last week.
"They have also established the identity of the thief, a woman, and hope to make an arrest shortly."
The letter continued: "The antecedents of the jeweller and his witnesses had been thoroughly scrutinised and some suspicious circumstances established."
The document did not provide any further details of these "suspicious circumstances".
The Embassy official said they had assurances from the Colombian authorities that discredited witnesses would be pursued.
This would cut the chances of more witnesses coming forward to back the jeweller against Moore.
Colombian police who arrested England World Cup star Bobby Moore on suspicion of taking a diamond bracelet soon believed it was stolen by a woman, confidential documents reveal.
Moore, who captained England to World Cup victory in 1966, was arrested on the eve of the World Cup finals in May 1970 and accused of stealing a £600 bracelet from a hotel jewellery shop.
But documents released by the Public Records Office on Thursday show that not even the head of the Colombian police believed Moore was guilty.
Within weeks of the arrest officials from British Embassy in Bogota were told by police that their prime suspect was an unnamed woman with links to the underworld.
In a letter to the Foreign Office dated 11 June, 1970, a British Embassy official wrote: "They (the police) have traced the bracelet which has been hawked around the underworld during the last week.
"They have also established the identity of the thief, a woman, and hope to make an arrest shortly."
The letter continued: "The antecedents of the jeweller and his witnesses had been thoroughly scrutinised and some suspicious circumstances established."
The document did not provide any further details of these "suspicious circumstances".
The Embassy official said they had assurances from the Colombian authorities that discredited witnesses would be pursued.
This would cut the chances of more witnesses coming forward to back the jeweller against Moore.
In 2001, other documents released under the 30-year-rule showed British diplomats spared no efforts to secure Moore's release.
Prime Minister Harold Wilson was pressuring diplomats to do all they could to get Moore cleared of the allegation.
Such was the arm-twisting instigated in London that Colombia's security service chief was even persuaded to visit the judge in the case to warn him of the ramifications if Moore were to be held any longer.