World Cup 2018: Raheem Sterling apologised to England team-mates for late return after Jamaica holiday

Sterling arrived at St George’s Park late following a holiday in Jamaica but his manager Gareth Southgate praised the forward’s handling of the situation

Raheem Sterling arrived late for England’s training camp at St George’s Park after being on holiday in Jamaica.

Sterling apologised to his England team-mates, and was reminded of his responsibilities by Gareth Southgate, following the incident last week.

While most England players arrived at St George’s Park on Sunday 20 May, Sterling was given an extra 48 hours and allowed to arrive on the evening of Tuesday 22 May, because he was on a family holiday in Jamaica which had been pushed back after he had been dealing with a family issue in the UK.

But Sterling did not fly back on the Tuesday night. He could not fly back direct from Jamaica and was delayed connecting via Miami, so he only arrived on Wednesday. Sterling called Southgate to tell him he would not be at St George’s Park when he said he would.

Southgate confirmed at his press conference at The Grove hotel on Friday afternoon that Sterling was late, had been spoken to, and apologised to the rest of the England squad.

“He was given off until the Tuesday night and he arrived on the Wednesday morning, so, he was late,” Southgate said. “There was a mix-up on flight and a connection. There was nothing intentional in his lateness. But, of course, I’d given him a bit of extra time so he understood why it was more important to get back than he was able to.”

Southgate said that Sterling understood the gravity of his offence, that he told Southgate as soon as he knew he would be late, and that he volunteered to apologise.

“I had a discussion with the player, we came to an agreement,” Southgate said. “And then he, in fairness to him, he wanted to apologise to the group. He explained his commitment to the team, and it’s done. We discussed it as a group, and moved on.”

Sterling’s late arrival marks the first disciplinary issue of this World Cup campaign for Southgate. But the England manager insisted that he does not feel let down by the Manchester City forward, and said that his commitment to the team was not at all in question.

“It was not an intentional situation,” Southgate said. “I have a sense that if someone doesn’t want to be here and wants to be late, that’s different. But I know how he was about it, so it was clear to me, as was his commitment and his focus. I have to say, he’s trained brilliantly all week. He’s so keen for this tournament to be a success for him and the team.”

Southgate had earlier defended Sterling over the controversy over a tattoo of a machine gun on his right leg, which Sterling had to deny was a pro-gun message. “Raheem is a very strong character so he is focused on his football,” Southgate said. “I had a good, deep conversation with him just to see exactly how he was with everything, but he knows he has got our support.”