England WAGs Banned From World Cup Warm-Up Camp

Hodgson Bans WAGs From England's World Cup Warm-Up Camp In Miami

England coach Roy Hodgson has changed his plans over an official trip for players' wives, families and girlfriends to the World Cup warm-up camp in Miami at the start of June.

It had been planned that time would be set aside for the "WAGs" - wives and girlfriends - after the first friendly against Ecuador on 4 June.

However, it has now emerged the players will instead fly to Miami on Sunday 1 June, a day later than originally planned, and that time will be given over to their families.

Coleen Rooney, Christine Bleakley and Alex Gerrard will not be jetting to Miami

The Football Association's original plan had been to organise a visit for the families to Florida, but it is understood that will now not take place.

The timetable will now see England play Peru at Wembley on 30 May, have the following day with their families and then join up again with the squad on 1 June to fly to Miami.

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England will play two friendlies in Florida, the second against Honduras on 7 June, before they fly to their World Cup base in Rio de Janeiro ahead of their first match of the tournament against Italy in Manaus on 14 June.

Hodgson, however, will not ban players from making their own arrangements for their families or partners to travel to Miami or after that to the Brazil finals, but any time spent together then will have to fit in with training and match schedules, and any other England duties.

The whole issue of the WAGs has been controversial since the 2006 World Cup, when there was criticism that the high-profile antics of players' loved ones at the Baden Baden base was a distraction for the team.

Lisa Carrick, Carly Cole, Stewart Downing's ex-girlfriend and Frank Lampard's ex-fiancée in Baden-Baden

Former England manager Fabio Capello went in the opposite direction for the 2010 tournament in South Africa and restricted the time that players could spend with their families to short windows of opportunity.

Captain Steven Gerrard's model wife, Alex, and their three daughters, will not be making the trip across the Atlantic, anyway. Gerrard did not invite his family to South Africa for the last World Cup in 2010, and revealed last month that he has made the same decision for Brazil.

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