Two men have been charged in connection with the theft of equipment belonging to the England football team while the squad was relocating from Florida to its FIFA World Cup base in Kansas City. Prosecutors in Jackson County, Missouri, identified the accused as Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal, both have been charged with one count of receiving stolen property. The missing items are valued at approximately $18,000 (around INR 17.15 lakh) and the offence could result in a prison sentence of up to seven years under Missouri law.
In a statement, prosecutors said Jackson County would not tolerate crimes targeting World Cup visitors, including participating teams.
“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."
Authorities said that the theft took place while England’s equipment was being transported from the team’s training base in Florida to Kansas City ahead of the squad’s arrival.
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According to court records, recovered items included football boots, goalkeeper gloves, training gear, electronic devices, signed jerseys and other merchandise.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas praised law enforcement officials, highlighting their rapid efforts to recover the stolen property and bring charges against those involved.
England goalkeeper Dean Henderson confirmed that all of the players’ belongings had been returned.
“I got them back, so it’s all good,” Henderson said, adding that the team had successfully recovered everything that was taken.
Defender Dan Burn revealed that players were initially unaware of the incident but were relieved once the missing equipment was recovered.
“Obviously it was to do with the police. So I don’t know how much people know about it. We didn’t know a lot about it, but I’ve got all my kit and all my boots."
Meanwhile, England, managed by Thomas Tuchel, continued preparations for the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a light training session in Kansas City on Saturday. The team is set to begin its campaign against Croatia on Wednesday before facing Ghana and Panama in Group L.
With inputs from agencies

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