Lionesses in ‘close contact’ with government over squad safety ahead of World Cup qualifier | OneFootball

England boss Sarina Wiegman has revealed they remain in constant dialogue with the UK Government over the safety of the squad in Turkey.

The Lionesses are in Antalya to face Ukraine in an away World Cup qualifier on Tuesday and are playing at a neutral venue due to the ongoing war in the country of the designated home team.

However, safety concerns have been raised in Turkey due to the close proximity to the conflict in the Middle East between Israel, Iran and United States, which has escalated in recent days.

"Yes, we did have reassurance," Wiegman explained.

"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.

"Of course you're concerned about what's 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."

This fixture is only being played in Turkey due to Ukraine still being at war more than four years after Russia invaded the European country.

Wiegman added: "Of course we think about that. It is really sad. 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.

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Wiegman said the the FA is in ‘close contact’ with the government (The FA via Getty Images)

"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."

It has been an incredible period of success for the Lionesses with back-to-back European Championship wins sandwiching a runner-up spot at the 2023 World Cup.

However, the growth of the women's game has sparked concerns over player welfare, which led to captain Leah Williamson to state last month that players could strike if nothing is done to address fixture congestion.

Bayern Munich midfielder Georgia Stanway said: "We love playing games and so we never want to take that feeling away, but something we've talked about is if the calendar does stay like this, it is making sure every club has the access to the best resources.

"You're talking recovery, nutrition and making sure everyone has access to those top level resources in order for them to be able to perform week in, week out at the highest level."

Stanway will leave Bayern this summer and will have news on her future soon.

"Yeah, I'm very close. I've had lots of talks with people, lots of talks with Sarina and you'll find out sooner rather than later," Stanway revealed.