Phil Foden has issued a public apology after he broke coronavirus quarantine protocols during his time with England which saw him axed from Gareth Southgate’s squad.
The Man City playmaker, along with Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, were sent home from international duty for inviting girls back to their hotel room on Sunday.
Both players made their senior England debuts in last Saturday’s 1-0 Nations League defeat of Iceland, but they will play no part in Tuesday’s clash with Denmark.
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In a statement on social media, Foden, 20, wrote: “Following the story which has emerged today regarding my actions in Iceland, I want to make a full apology.
“I apologise to Gareth Southgate, to my England teammates, to the staff, supporters, and also to my club and my family.
“When I was called up by Gareth for these games, my first reaction was that of immense pride.
“To pull on that shirt for the senior team in my England debut was an incredible privilege.
“I am a young player with a lot to learn, but I am aware of the huge responsibility I have in representing Manchester City and England at this level.
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“On this occasion I made a poor decision and my behaviour didn’t meet the standards expected of me.
“I breached COVID-19 protocols put in place to protect myself and my England colleagues. As a consequence I will now miss the opportunity to travel to Denmark with the squad, and that hurts.
“I will learn a valuable lesson from this error in judgement and I wish Gareth and the team good luck this week.”
Man City had earlier condemned Foden’s actions in a strongly-worded statement.
It read: “Manchester City FC are aware of the story which has emerged today from the England national team camp in relation to the behaviour of Phil Foden.
“We have also seen the comments from England manager Gareth Southgate. It is clear that Phil’s actions were totally inappropriate.
“His behaviour not only directly contravenes strict guidelines related to COVID-19, but also falls well below the standard expected of a Manchester City player and England international.
“The club supports the FA regarding this incident, and officials from the Club are now in touch in relation to Phil’s enforced early return to the UK.
“We have no further comment to make on this matter.”
Foden and Greenwood were both omitted from England training on Monday and kept away from the rest of the squad as the Football Association investigated the incident.
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English football’s governing body later found that the players disregarded both quarantine and behaviour rules, resulting in them being kicked out the squad.
England travelled to Denmark from Iceland on Monday afternoon, but the pair were flown home separately – being pictured in England on Tuesday morning.
It is understood that coronavirus quarantine protocols at the England team hotel were so strict, players were not even allowed to meet their own family members.
But two girls posted photographs of Greenwood, 18, and Foden, 20, on social media, showing them in clear breach of the guidelines set by the FA.
In a press conference on Monday, Southgate addressed the matter
“Unfortunately this morning it was brought to my attention that the two boys have broken the COVID guidelines in terms of our secure bubble,” he began. “We had to decide they couldn’t have interaction with the rest of the team.
“Given the procedures we have to follow they will have to travel home separately.”
Southgate added: “Nothing has happened in the areas we occupy in the hotel. We are still getting to the depths of all the information because this was only brought to my attention a couple of hours before training, so I’m still getting to grips with the detail.
“What is clear is there is a breach of the COVID-19 guidelines. The whole squad have really followed that to the letter. I’m not going into any more details until I’m aware of everything.
“We’ve spent a long time putting the guidelines in place, and the whole squad have followed that to the letter.
“We’ve had four tests in the period we’ve been together, our staff have done an incredible job of keeping it secure and tight, which was so important both to get the games played and also for the safety and security of our team and staff.
“So in that respect we have no alternative but to do what we are doing.”
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Southgate described the young pair as ‘naive’ and said they had both apologised for their conduct.
“I think at the moment I’m trying to take a lot of information in,” he said.
“Obviously they have been naive, we have dealt with it appropriately. I recognise their age but the whole world is dealing with this pandemic.
“I’m a father with children, young adults, I know people get things wrong. I’m not excusing that in this instance.
“These are two boys I don’t know particularly well at the moment so can’t speak in great depth. I have got to try and speak with them later in the appropriate way. They have got responsibilities and they have apologised.”
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