England manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed that while he hopes his players can see their partners in their downtime during the World Cup in Qatar, it all depends on Covid. The Three Lions are set to jet off to the Middle East in the coming days, with their respective families in tow.
Southgate has warned his players they will monitor the 'Covid situation' to see if they can meet them face-to-face, the Daily Star reported. He said: "We would like it to happen, we think it is a significant part of a team feeling relaxed and comfortable. But at the moment none of us know what the transmission rate is likely to be out there."
Southgate remained optimistic, before adding: “We need to monitor it quite closely."
Covid cases have been on the decline in Qatar in recent months, and on Saturday 206 new cases were registered with the seven-day average at 384 cases. Comparatively in the UK, over 24,000 new cases were registered on Saturday.
Unlike Euro 2020, there won't be a Covid bubble in Qatar, so all players will need to see their families is the green light from Southgate.
England's WAGs will stay on a luxury £1 billion cruise ship throughout the competition that includes a giant slide and 14 ocean-view whirlpools. They will be among 6,762 guests on board the MSC Europa, which will be docked off the coast of Doha.
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