England delay arrival of Abraham, Chilwell and Sancho over alleged virus breach

London (AFP) – Chelsea pair Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell and Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho will not join up with the England squad on Monday after the three players were filmed apparently flouting coronavirus restrictions at a party.

Abraham has apologised after the footage showed the players attending his surprise birthday party in London with more than six people present on Saturday.

Gatherings of more than six are not permitted in England under the latest guidelines.

“As a precaution to understand if there is any risk to the wider group, the arrival of Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell and Jadon Sancho will be delayed,” the Football Association said in a statement on Monday.

“This is to allow time to gather further information of a social gathering that all three players reportedly attended over the weekend.”

It comes a month after Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood were sent home for breaching Covid-19 protocols while with Gareth Southgate’s England squad in Iceland.

Abraham told The Sun newspaper: “I arrived home to find a small surprise gathering.

“Though I was totally unaware this was planned, I would like to wholeheartedly apologise for the naivety shown for the organisation and attending of this gathering.

“All I can do now is learn from it, apologise to everyone and ensure it never happens again.”

England face Wales in a friendly on Thursday and then host Belgium and Denmark in the Nations League.

Southgate has also lost Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling for all three matches due to injury. 

Chelsea’s Reece James has been called up to the senior squad for the first time.