Exclusive: England players banned from shaking hands – and told to use fist bumps instead England manager Gareth Southgate, his players and team staff are greeting everyone with fist bumps, instead of shaking hands – […]

England manager Gareth Southgate, his players and team staff are greeting everyone with fist bumps, instead of shaking hands – as part of medical instructions for the World Cup.

Such is the meticulous detail to which the tournament has been planned by the Football Association and Southgate, guidance has been provided by the medical team, led by team doctor Robin Chakrabarty, to avoid shaking hands with people and to bump fists instead, to prevent the spread of germs.

Research at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales revealed that fist bumps are 20 times more hygienic than handshakes and another study, in the American Journal of Infection Control, found them to be 10 times cleaner than high-fives.

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Rather than the traditional form of greeting with a handshake, a gesture first thought to have been used by ancient Greeks in the 5th century BC, Southgate, his staff and the players have been adhering to instructions and fist-bumping each other around England’s training camp and across Russia.

Risk reduction

The aim is to avoid, at all cost, the unnecessary spread of virus and illness, which could derail their tournament if something serious spread through the squad, with the latest medical research recommending the precaution to reduce the risk. Diseases such as scabies spread through direct skin contact.

This is yet another example of how Southgate and his team of staff have left nothing to chance as they bid to reach a first World Cup semi-final since Italia 90. Already this tournament has been a success, with England’s young, vibrant squad winning their first major tournament knockout match in 12 years and first World Cup ever, and much of it is down to plans and preparation in the build-up.

Their attention to detail with penalties involved performing psychometric tests on the players to decide who were best suited to take them, extensive drilling of specific penalty techniques and takers informing the goalkeepers which way they would shoot in training in order to practice the perfect penalty.

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A new proactive communications approach, driven by the England media team, helped the players open up to the general public and connected them to the national team’s supporters more so than any other group since Southgate’s own Euro 96 squad, who reached the semi-finals in England.

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