Five Men Arrested After Vieira is Gassed By Burglars in French Villa

French police were yesterday questioning five men after burglars pumped sleeping gas into the home of the footballer Patrick Vieira, sedating his family before stealing jewellery and a car.

The 29-year-old former Arsenal captain was at his villa on the French Riviera with his wife Cheryl and daughter Cheries when gas was pumped in through the air-conditioning system to knock out the family and keep them asleep.

Burglars then entered the house at Cannet, near Cannes, and stole jewellery before driving off in the French midfielder's English-registered Mercedes 4x4.

The attack happened in the early hours of Sunday as Vieira was preparing to join the French world cup squad in the Alps, where the players are training at high altitudes with reduced oxygen. After a health check, he was back training with "Les Bleus" yesterday while his Trinidadian wife and their young daughter recovered at home.

Police said there should be no long-term medical effects from the drugging.

The late-night gas attack was only confirmed after the Vieira family complained of feeling unwell when they awoke to find their house had been raided.

A spokeswoman for police in Cannes said the full value of the stolen jewellery was not known. The Mercedes was later found abandoned along the coast in Nice. She said there was no evidence that the thieves had deliberately targeted the Vieira family.

"We are now involved in a hunt for these burglars and we cannot say if they knew this was the home of the footballer or not," she said.

Another police source told Associated Press that five suspects aged between 20 and 35 were arrested in Nice yesterday and were being questioned.

Vieira was born in Senegal to a Cape Verdian family and came to France aged 8. He began his career aged 17 at Cannes.

He joined Juventus last year after nine seasons at Arsenal and played in the French team that won the World CUP in 1998.

The squad, undergoing a week of intensive training with a backdrop of snowy peaks at the French ski resort of Tignes, have been instructed by their coach not to give individual press interviews.