Two men charged after $18,000 theft from England World Cup equipment convoy

Equipment goes missing

England’s convoy of gear was hit by theft while traveling from a warm-weather camp in West Palm Beach, Florida, to the team’s base at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri. The items were discovered missing upon arrival on Friday night. A Lego set of a Nike Air shoe, two stuffed lions, four pairs of football boots, a match ball, goalkeeper gloves and training kit were taken, along with three signed jerseys worth $15,000. The total value was estimated at $18,000 (£13,500). Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said local, state and federal officials were investigating what he called a "heist in transit of English national team equipment."

Two men charged

Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson charged Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal, the two men who were driving the equipment vehicle, with receiving stolen property. Each faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted. A detective recovered most of the stolen items. The two were detained and the charges were filed over the weekend.

Reaction from the England camp

The Football Association stressed that nothing taken would affect preparations for the World Cup. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson confirmed his boots and gloves made it to Kansas City.

“Yeah, thankfully. I think they got stolen but we got them back so it's all good.”

Defender Dan Burn heard about the incident through media reports and joked he "wouldn't be able to move very much" without his boots. Burn added:

“We've not made a big deal out of it. I've got everything I need, so I'm quite happy. To be honest, it's not really been spoken about, so I think that shows for us that they're not too worried about it as well.”

Tournament schedule

England begin their Group L campaign on Wednesday against Croatia at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Subsequent matches follow on 23 June against Ghana in Boston and 27 June versus Panama at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.