England stars struggling to contact family due to poor WiFi in Qatar

England stars are struggling to stay in touch with family members in Qatar due to patchy WiFi at their World Cup base… with fears over a potential Covid breakout leaving staff reluctant to organise in-person meetings

  • England players are having difficult contacting their loved ones out in Qatar
  • A patchy WiFi connection is preventing them from staying in touch with family
  • Three Lions stars only saw their family members after Monday’s win over Iran
  • Gareth Southgate and his staff are also reluctant to agree to let them mix in public out of fear over a potential Covid outbreak in their World Cup squad
  • Click here for the latest World Cup 2022 news, fixtures, live action and results

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.

England stars are struggling to stay in touch with family at the World Cup due to patchy Wi-Fi

A patchy WiFi connection is stopping them from contacting loved ones at their team hotel

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.

Three Lions staff are also reluctant to organise in-person meetings out of fear of a Covid breakout, with players only seeing their family after Monday’s win over Iran 

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.’




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