DOHA, Qatar — Raheem Sterling will rejoin England‘s World Cup squad in Qatar on Friday after flying home to deal with the fallout of a robbery at his house, the Football Association have confirmed.
The 28-year-old left the camp on Sunday morning following talks with manager Gareth Southgate after it emerged he had been the victim of at least one incident at his Surrey home.
Officers in Oxshott have arrested two people following an operation involving police dogs and a helicopter but the men are not believed to involved in a second incident, a reported armed break-in, which is alleged to have taken place last Saturday evening.
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England play France in the quarterfinals on Saturday and an FA statement on Thursday read: “Raheem Sterling will return to England’s World Cup base in Qatar.
“The Chelsea forward temporarily left to attend to a family matter but is now expected to rejoin the squad in Al Wakrah on Friday (9 December) ahead of the quarter-final with France.”
Sterling left the camp on the morning of England’s round-of-16 win over Senegal with Southgate confirming after the game that the situation “didn’t impact team selection.”
Southgate added: “You know you have days where events happen and you have to deal with them. He is on his way home and we’re obviously mindful of him being allowed space and privacy respected so we aren’t going to talk in too much detail.”
Sterling’s girlfriend, Paige, and his three children were not in the house at the time of the alleged incident.