'Interesting' England sack two players from camp for sneaking women into hotel

Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood are officially out of the England squad, the national team manager Gareth Southgate has confirmed after bringing women into team’s hotel.

On Monday, reports went viral that 20-year-old Phil Foden and 18-year-old Mason Greenwood smuggled two Icelandic girls into England’s team hotel after making their national team debut against Iceland on Saturday.

After the European Nations League match which ended 1-0 in favor of England, Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood left England’s team ‘bubble’ to bring in Iceland 20-year-old Miss Universe contender Nadia Gunnarsdottir and her 19-year-old cousin Lara Clausen.

Hours later, pictures of their meeting started flooding the internet courtesy of Snapchat posts of the two ladies who were obviously proud of the experience of meeting with the two England sensations.

The two players have been sacked from the camp of the Three Lions, afterwards.

The FA has launched a “full investigation” into the incident and also apologised to the Football Association of Iceland.

An FA spokesperson said: “Whilst in Iceland, both Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood spent time outside of our private team area, which was a breach of our Covid-19 rules.

“While they did not leave the team hotel, it was an unacceptable breach of our protocol. They have both apologised for their serious lack of judgement.”

And Three Lions boss Southgate confirmed the “naive” duo did not come into contact with any other members of the squad during a press conference on Monday.

“Two of the boys have broken the Covid-19 guidelines, in terms of our secure bubble,” he said.

“We had to decide very quickly that they couldn’t have any interaction with the rest of the team and wouldn’t be able to train.

“Obviously they have been naive. We have dealt with it appropriately. I recognise their age but the whole world is dealing with this pandemic.

“Now they will have to travel back to England separately. Nothing has happened in the areas we occupy in the hotel.”

Meanwhile, City and United have expressed their disappointment in their players’ actions. City said Foden’s behaviour was “totally inappropriate” and “fell well below the standard expected of a Manchester City player and England international”.

And Manchester United said they are “liaising with the Football Association and are disappointed with the actions of Mason Greenwood”.