England manager Roy Hodgson has revealed that he is open to the players' wives and girlfriends joining their partners for the World Cup in Brazil.
The presence of footballers' families at major tournaments has sometimes been deemed as a distraction, but Hodgson is allowing the players to make the decision themselves.
After a training camp in Portugal, the Three Lions will compete in warm-up matches against Ecuador and Honduras in Florida before heading to Rio de Janeiro.
"In Miami, we have invited the players or suggested to the players that their wives could come for the later part of the stay there," the Daily Mail quotes Hodgson as saying. "And when it comes to Brazil, we haven't made any hard and fast rules.
"It will be up to the players to decide, presumably around the games more than anything else, if they want to bring their wives there, but there are issues, and I think it's important that they understand what issues there are likely to be, in terms of security if their wives do come, and if they make a decision to bring their wives, it will be done with the full facts at their disposal."
The World Cup gets underway on June 12.
Danielle Joynson
