England to assist squad in postal voting for general election at Euro 2024
The Football Association will help England’s Euro 2024 squad arrange postal or proxy votes for the general election after the Prime Minister called one for midway through this summer’s tournament.
The July 4 polling day falls in the week of the quarter-finals and manager Gareth Southgate and his players and staff will need to make special arrangements in order to ensure they do not miss out on having their say over who forms the next government.
Telegraph Sport has been told the FA plans to issue such a reminder to those affected, having adopted a similar policy around the Brexit referendum that took place midway through Euro 2016.
The general election is one more factor for the FA to consider when it comes to planning for this summer’s tournament.
Southgate and his players could face questions about it if they reach the quarter-finals given the outcome may well be known before the first of those fixtures on July 5.
It could even be a point of discussion within the squad, with the issue of whether Britain should leave or remain in the European Union having cropped up at the England team hotel in Chantilly as the country readied itself for the June 2016 ballot.
Full-back Ryan Bertrand said at the time: “We have a brief chat about it at the dinner table when we unwind. But I’m not going to declare [my voting intention] in public.”
Roy Hodgson and Harry Kane were subsequently asked during press conferences about the outcome of the Brexit vote.
Southgate could therefore find himself being asked to comment on the general election in the same way he is quizzed on many major political issues while on England duty.
This summer’s ballot will be the first major national poll to take place since he took charge of England in November 2016.
