England's stolen football gear worth Rs 17 lakh recovered 24 hours after theft

England football team's stolen gear, reportedly worth around Rs 17 lakh, was recovered by Kansas City police within 24 hours of the theft. Two men from Texas have been charged with felony counts by authorities.

In Short

• England football team arrived in the USA on Saturday
• Football equipment worth Rs 17 lakh was stolen during transit
• Kansis City Police has found the stolen equipment

England football team's stolen equipment worth nearly Rs 17 lakh has been recovered within 24 hours after it went missing during the team's move to its FIFA World Cup base in Kansas City.

Authorities in Jackson County, Missouri, charged two men from Texas on Saturday with one felony count each of receiving stolen property after police recovered the missing items.

The accused, identified as Mustafa Salik and Erfan Kamal of San Antonio, face Class D felony charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of seven years. Bond for both was set at $75,000.

The theft took place while England were relocating from their pre-training base in Florida to their World Cup camp in Kansas City ahead of the tournament.

According to court documents obtained by Associated Press, police recovered several items belonging to the team, including nine pairs of football boots, goalkeeper gloves, a World Cup match ball, multiple training kits, electronics, stuffed toys, signed England jerseys and even a Lego set of Nike Air shoes.

MISSING EQUIPMENT WAS NOT ESSENTIAL: AUTHORITIES

Despite the theft, officials said none of the missing equipment affected England's World Cup preparations.

Jackson County prosecutor Melesa Johnson said authorities acted quickly after learning that an international team had been targeted.

"Jackson County will not tolerate criminal activity that targets World Cup visitors, including the international teams that have travelled here to compete," Johnson said.

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas also praised investigators for tracing the stolen goods across state lines and ensuring the accused would face prosecution.

England arrived in Kansas City on Saturday and were welcomed at their team base before heading for an open training session.

The Three Lions have chosen Kansas City as their tournament headquarters despite not playing any of their group-stage matches there, citing easier travel access across venues. England open their FIFA World Cup campaign against Croatia on Wednesday before later group matches against Ghana and Panama.

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