FA fear hackers will spill England secrets

THE FA have a serious issue about Russian spies in a Cold War build-up to the 2018 World Cup.

The concern has arisen since the pro-Russian state Fancy Bears group started hacking FIFA and the World Anti-Doping Agency and revealing hugely sensitive information.

English football’s ruling body have written to FIFA wanting to know how it happened and what preventative measures have been brought in.

The worries include being hacked for coaching and tactical information despite England’s wretched record at recent championships.

The FA have already started beefing up their own IT security with outside help. The measures include bans on using hotel or public wifi, stronger firewalls and encrypted passwords plus players being given advice on using social media.

England’s base in Russia, which is still to be decided, will also be swept for listening devices.

The Fancy Bears leaked details from WADA last year, including explosive evidence that Sir Bradley Wiggins had used therapeutic use exemptions for the otherwise banned substance triamcinolone to treat asthma and allergies ahead of major cycling races in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Last month they leaked confidential medical information from FIFA involving English players. They included emails sent in May this year from the FA’s head of integrity Jenni Kennedy about four anti-doping cases involving Middlesbrough’s George Friend, former Gillingham player Zesh Rehman and non-League players Ross Armstrong and Ryan Kendall.

A FIFA spokesman said: ‘We can confirm the FA has sent a letter to FIFA related to the Fancy Bears attack. FIFA informed the FA that FIFA remains committed to preventing security attacks in general and is presently investigating the incident to ascertain whether FIFA’s infrastructure was compromised. For the purposes of computer security, FIFA is itself relying on expert advice from third parties.’