Spy scandal! US face questions after staff seen at England base ahead of World Cup semifinal
The build-up to the Women’s World Cup semifinal between England and the USA has been hit by a spying row after two officials from the American team were spotted at the opposition hotel in Lyon, France.
The incident unfolded on Sunday when two members of US staff were seen by English FA officials at the team hotel, The Fourviere, where players are staying and preparing ahead of Tuesday’s crunch clash in the city.
The England players were training at facilities around 30 minutes’ away when the US staff were seen being shown around the hotel.
The US staff are understood to have been wearing plain clothes, and the formal explanation from the team is that they were scouting out the hotel as a potential location for Sunday’s final, which, like Tuesday’s semifinal, will be played at Parc Olympique Lyonnais.
Lionesses manager Phil Neville asserted that the row would have no bearing on the game, but was nonetheless miffed at the presence of opposition staff at the team’s base, where key tactics discussions have taken place.
"The only thing I would say is it’s not something that I would want my team ops [operations] person doing,” Neville said at a press conference.
“It’s not something that we’d do, send somebody round to another team’s hotel.
“I’m sure that [USA coach] Jill Ellis probably wouldn’t have been happy with that arrangement. I’m sure that she will be dealing with their infrastructure within their own discipline, probably.”
The USA have maintained there was nothing shady to the visit by their members of staff, asserting that it was standard procedure for them to scope out the location as a potential base for Sunday’s final, should they overcome England.
“You have to plan ahead,” Ellis said when asked about the scandal.
She also insisted that the team – who are the reigning champions and favorites in France – were not getting ahead of themselves by already making arrangements for the final.
"Arrogance has nothing to do with us, that’s planning preparation for our staff. I think that’s pretty normal,” Ellis said.
The US reached the last four by seeing off hosts France 2-1 in the last round thanks to a double from Megan Rapinoe.
The star winger has made the headlines for non-footballing reasons during the tournament, after footage was shared of her vowing she would “not go to the f***ing White House,” should the team win the tournament.
That drew a Twitter response from US President Donald Trump in which he told her not to “disrespect the flag.”
Also on rt.com ‘You can’t win a championship without gays’ – US Women’s World Cup star Megan RapinoeThe US are aiming to win their fourth Women’s World Cup this summer, and have been near invincible in recent seasons.
England, however, held them to a 2-2 draw the last time they met in the She Believes Cup earlier this year.
Managed by former Manchester United and England star Neville, England looked impressive in beating Norway 3-0 in their quarterfinal.
Also on rt.com Give the Megan Rapinoe liberal love-in a rest – it’s a tiresome distraction from the football
