Brazil football icon Zico was targeted during a distraction theft in France ahead of the Paris Olympics grand opening after his briefcase containing a reported £420,000 worth of jewels and bank notes was stolen, according to reports.

France is set to officially mark the opening of the Games on Friday evening and are already having their security status tested after Zico had his luxury goods taken while traveling in a taxi.

The 71-year-old had travelled to France to watch the Olympics get underway and is now the alleged victim of a frightening ordeal that has seen him suffer a huge financial loss.

Zico left his hotel in Paris and was traveling with a briefcase containing a diamond necklace, cash and a high-end luxury Rolex watch, as reported by Le Parisien.

It was during the taxi journey that it is reported his vehicle was approached by one individual tasked with distracting the driver while another approached the rear of the car.

Zico’s briefcase was then snatched and the pair quickly made off as the Brazilian lost his chest of valuables during an orchestrated operation carried out in the Olympics host city.

Police have now began an investigation into the incident and France’s Brigade for the Repression of Banditry is expected to be in charge of finding the perpetrators.

Zico is in Paris as part of Brazil’s Olympics delegation that has seen a host of athletes make the trip from the South American nation and hope to lift titles in football and other events.

Other similar incidents are also reported to have taken place at the Games with Argentina head coach Javier Mascherano complaining that his team’s Olympic training base was robbed before their game against Morocco.

“They went into training and they robbed us, in the Olympic Games,” Mascherano said after his team’s chaotic 2-1 defeat.