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England Lionesses given safety assurances ahead of playing match in Turkey

England's players and staff are currently in Turkey ahead of Tuesday's World Cup qualifying clash with Ukraine, but concerns have been raised due to the nearby conflict in the Middle East

England manager Sarina Wiegman has confirmed that she's been given assurances over her team's safety ahead of their World Cup qualifier in Turkey. The Lionesses are scheduled to face Ukraine on Tuesday in a designated away fixture.

Amid ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the match was moved to a neutral venue, the Mardan Sports Complex in Antalya. However, new safety concerns have been raised due Turkey's close proximity to the ongoing conflict between between the United States, Israel and Iran which has impacted several countries in the Middle East.

Wiegman confirmed at a press conference that England officials are in 'close contact' with the UK Government over their safety, and said that she'd be prepared to leave Turkey if her team felt unsafe. "Yes, we did have reassurance," the England manager stated.

"Of course we are in close contact with our government, but also with the people here that are responsible, so our security team is really in contact with them and we're fine here, but they keep an eye on it. We're in contact with them all the time and the authorities, the responsible authorities.

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"Of course you're concerned about whats happening in the world. That's not nice and you don't want war, do you? So, that makes it really hard and then it comes to us here and as we said, there's close contact.

"We will keep an eye on it. When we think there are a couple of things that are not safe, then we'll go back, but at this moment we don't have signals of that."

Wiegman also expressed her sadness regarding the fixture being played in Turkey, with Russia having invaded Ukraine more than four years ago. The war has forced the latter's national teams to play in countries such as Poland, Germany and Turkey ever since. "Of course we think about that. It is really sad," the Dutch coach added.

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"We do have great facilities here, the climate is really good so we can prepare really well, but the reason we're here is not nice because you want Ukraine to be able to play in their home country. So, that makes it all really sad.

"Yeah, they had to travel a lot themselves to get here and the things they have in front of them in their country is really horrible, so we just hope that this game unites a bit. Of course it's competitive, but also it's an opportunity for Ukraine to show themselves to the world in another way where hopefully football unites and brings some joy."

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