England stars will shell out fortunes for families and friends to fly out to the World Cup.
They will spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on flights, luxury accommodation and travel expenses for the tournament in Qatar this winter. England players’ family members and friends had a special debrief at the Hilton Hotel at Wembley on Monday afternoon before the clash with Germany and several have got doubts about going.
Three Lions midfielder Jordan Henderson admitted last week that his dad Brian had said he would not go to Qatar after being caught up in the shameful scenes when innocent Liverpool fans were tear gassed by police before the Champions League final.
The Football Association did provide suggested hotels for family and friends, and they have also been offered places on luxury moored cruise ships which cost £6,000-per-package.
They have also booked into luxury £3,000-a-night villas in Doha while many have decided to stay in Dubai, fly in for each Group match, stay one night in Doha and then jet back to Dubai as the flights only last 35 minutes - but costs in excess of £600 because of a surge in demand.
Some are expecting to spend in excess of £100,000 each for trips which might last a month while several big stars are banking on taking up to ten people from their friends and family.
They have been reassured about safety in Doha with the Football Association laying on back-up help for families in friends when it comes to travel, online security and general advice.
England fans are also set to stay on moored cruise ships which cost a more modest £150-a-night and have got all inclusive food and drink but the numbers are expected to be down because of the sheer cost of staying in Doha just before Christmas.
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Meanwhile, England boss Gareth Southgate flew straight out to Austria to make a scouting check on World Cup opponents Iran on Tuesday evening.
Iran, now coached by Carlos Queiroz, drew 1-1 with Senegal in Modling - who England could potentially meet in the last 16 - in a pre-tournament friendly. England boss Southgate said that he and Steve Holland will be able to watch their opponents, opposition players and make checks on their own players in the next few weeks.
Iran are ranked 22nd in the world, beat a strong Uruguay side 1-0 last week and are England’s opening opponents in Qatar on November 21.
Southgate said: “We are able to go to international games which we can’t usually do. That’s a bonus. Of course we need to monitor our players as well as we possibly can. We always look to find out absolutely everything about them and a lot of liaison with the clubs on how they are physically and what’s going on. So we are not short of stuff to be getting on with.”
But despite being in regular contact with England players, Southgate did not push for another get-together in October simply because of the demands from clubs and potential fixture pile-up.
