Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden has recently issued an apology after he and Mason Greenwood were sent home by England for a serious breach of COVID-19 regulations, which prompted the Football Association to announced a full investigation into the incident.
Gareth Southgate, manager of the England national team, called it a “very serious” breach of coronavirus regulations.
Within a couple of days of making their debut against Iceland, Foden and Greenwood were asked to leave the camp after breaching the strict bio-bubble in Reykjavik. There were allegations that both the players had spent time with two girls during the trip.
Foden took to Twitter to issue an apology and vowed to “learn a valuable lesson from this error in judgment.”
The 20-year-old wrote, “I apologise to Gareth Southgate, to my England team-mates, to the staff, supporters and also to my club and my family. I am a young player with a lot to learn, but I am aware of the huge responsibility I have in representing Manchester City and England at this level.”
“On this occasion I made a poor decision and my behaviour didn’t meet the standards expected of me,” he added. “I breached Covid-19 protocols put in place to protect myself and my England colleagues. As a consequence I will now miss the opportunity to travel to Denmark with the squad, and that hurts.”
Foden continued, “I will learn a valuable lesson from this error in judgment and I wish Gareth and the team good luck this week.”
On Monday afternoon, Southgate said, “It’s a very serious situation and we have treated it that way and have acted as quickly as we have been able to.”
The Football Association said in a statement, “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 duties.”
“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,” it added.
“The FA will be launching a full investigation into the circumstances leading up this breach. We have spoken to the Football Association of Iceland to offer our apologies for this incident and to ensure them that we are taking the appropriate steps.”
Manchester City said, “It is clear that Phil’s actions were totally inappropriate. His behaviour not only directly contravenes strict guidelines related to Covid-19, but also falls well below the standard expected of a Manchester City player and England international.”
“The club supports the FA regarding this incident, and officials from the club are now in touch in relation to Phil’s enforced early return to the UK,” the club added. Manchester United said, “We are liaising with the Football Association and are disappointed with the actions of Mason Greenwood over this situation.”
