Two men have been charged after $18,000 (£13,500) worth of England World Cup equipment was stolen from a vehicle transporting the team’s belongings from their pre-tournament camp in Florida to their base in Kansas City.
Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal each face one count of receiving stolen property, a class D felony under Missouri law that carries a prison sentence of between one and seven years. The charges were filed by Jackson County prosecutors after the theft came to light as the squad prepared for their World Cup opener against Croatia.
“Two men charged over theft of $18,000 of England World Cup kit; most items recovered.”
According to court documents seen by BBC Sport, the stolen items included four pairs of football boots, a football, a pair of goalkeeper gloves, training kit, and three signed jerseys valued at a total of $15,000. Other items listed were five pairs of shoes, a Lego set of a Nike Air shoe valued at $99.99, and multifunctional power strips. Around 26 items in total were taken.
Despite the incident, the Football Association said nothing was taken that would impact England’s preparations. Defender Dan Burn said: “I’ve not lost anything personally, we found out from you guys [the media]. It’s with the police now so not sure how much I can comment. It’s not really been spoken about, so that just shows for us that they aren’t too worried about it - it’s not really disrupted our preparations.”
Goalkeeper Dean Henderson added: “My boots? I’ve got them on my feet so it’s all good. We got them all back so it’s nice.” The majority of the stolen property has been recovered.
Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson said: “Jackson County will not tolerate any criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have travelled here to compete. We thank the Kansas City Police Department and our on-call attorneys for their quick work investigating this incident and filing charges immediately. Our office is committed to holding these individuals accountable.”
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas said: “I am grateful for the quick work of the Kansas City Police Department and the Prosecutor’s Office in resolving an investigation across several states, helping crime victims recover goods stolen in transit, and ensuring the accused will face prosecution.”