England’s team chef was stopped from boarding a train due to his cooking knives in another extraordinary turn of events in their pre-World Cup preparations.
The Three Lions have been racked by disruption in the lead-up to their Group L opener against Panama on 17 June, with their Kansas City base seeing equipment stolen from it on the eve before the team’s arrival.
And in another revelation, the Daily Mail has revealed that the setup’s chef, who has been central to the players’ preparation and nutrition, had to make alternative travel arrangements after he was held back because of his kitchenware.
The chef unknowingly set off a metal detector at West Palm Beach station, where he intended to board a train to Orlando ahead of England’s friendly against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
This triggered a security alert and led to personnel telling him he would not be permitted to take the knives on the train and that he would have to travel without them.
State laws in Florida permit the carrying of concealed firearms or pocket knives, but rail operators have their own rules.
Brightline, who runs the service the chef needed to catch, prohibits the carrying of weapons of any type, hence the chef’s quandary.
It’s reported that the situation was resolved amicably.
England have now arrived at their World Cup home away from home in Kansas City, greeted by a couple-hundred people at their Inn at Meadowbrook hotel in the south of the city.
Some of the team’s boots and official tournament balls were discovered stolen at their Swope Soccer Village base on Friday, though Football Association sources have indicated the majority of the equipment, which wasn’t irreplaceable, has now been recovered.
Local police are investigating the incident and confirmed that two individuals have been apprehended.
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