WiFi woes mean England’s wives and girlfriends are all at sea
ENGLAND’s players are struggling to stay in touch with loved ones at the World Cup due to unstable internet connections. Until this point, players and families have only managed to see each other once in person, following Monday’s game against Iran when Gareth Southgate gave his squad permission to enter the stands to see loved ones after the final whistle. But their attempts to speak to each other are being hampered by patchy WiFi between the team hotel and the converted cruise ship where most of the families are staying, with many complaining they are cut off mid-conversation.
The fact families are staying on the cruise ship, which remains open to the public, poses a major obstacle for the FA to overcome in allowing players to see more of their loved ones during the tournament. England support staff are well aware of the havoc Covid could cause to their World Cup campaign and are concerned by the fact that family members will be mixing with other customers on the ship. Media and FA support staff are required to wear face coverings when near to England players at the training base and inside stadiums to mitigate the risk of Covid infiltrating the camp.
There had been hope that the players would be able to spend a day with family this weekend but the FA are yet to decide whether such a move would prove too risky.
Asked whether or not England players would be able to meet their families, England manager Gareth Southgate said: ‘Well, we’re going to see how the next few days go and we’ve talked about maybe looking at something after the second game, but we’ve got to monitor what the rates out here are as much as anything else. ‘We’re going to have to monitor it throughout, but there’s this balance of the spirit and happiness of the group and the medical line of zero risk, and sometimes if you’re going to take zero risks it can kill it for everybody, so we’ve got to try to find that balance.’