JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 14 (UPI) -- A strike by stewards at two World Cup stadiums in South Africa prompted police to take over security at the venues Monday, officials said.
The soccer governing body FIFA said a pay dispute had caused the stewards to walk off the job at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium and in Cape Town, where police were asked to take over the security, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The striking stewards worked for Stallion Security Consortium. Security at the other eight World Cup stadiums is being handled by other private security companies, the newspaper said.
The move came after riot police were called to Moses Mabhida Stadium to disperse an angry crowd of workers late Sunday several hours after Germany's 4-0 victory over Australia.
Danny Jordaan, chief executive officer of the World Cup organizing committee, said in a statement, "Although we have respect for worker's rights, we find it unacceptable for them to disrupt match-day proceedings and will not hesitate to take action in such instances."
