SPORTS.

England are one of six teams who have pulled out of the World Men's Squash Team Championships in Cairo because of fears over security. The Foreign Office consider Egypt to have a "high threat from terrorism". France, Germany, Finland, Canada and the USA are the others to withdraw from the event, which starts on 12 December. "The safety of our players and staff remains our only priority and, at this time, we have real concerns," said England Squash chief, Keir Worth. "Following the release of security plans for the event and subsequently a comprehensive report from independent security advisers, we have concluded that there is an inherent risk that has not been mitigated to an acceptable level. "We have been through a significant consultation with the players and support staff over recent weeks and we are extremely disappointed to be withdrawing." England's four-man squad of Nick Matthew, James Willstrop, Daryl Selby and Chris Simpson were consulted by England Squash and agreed unanimously with the decision to withdraw. Simpson told BBC Radio Guernsey: "Overall the general feeling from the players was that whilst we were desperate to play for England and win the title, we weren't massively happy going there. "The decision that was made was right." Simpson also suggested that World Squash should look to rearrange the tournament, suggesting the withdrawals mean it would not be a "true event". "No-one wants to play in an event when it's not as strong as it should be, I don't think the wining team would get the same satisfaction," added Simpson. "If I was world squash I'd look at postponing it and finding somewhere else in the calendar and geographically to put on the tournament." There has been no comment as yet from the World Squash Federation on the teams' decisions to withdraw from the event.