Keane sent home after a tiff with coach

Roy Keane, Ireland’s World Cup captain, has been sent home from a training camp in the Pacific. The shock decision by coach Mick McCart...

Roy Keane, Ireland’s World Cup captain, has been sent home from a training camp in the Pacific. The shock decision by coach Mick McCarthy leaves Ireland’s hopes in tatters and follows Keane’s strong criticism of the team’s training facilities and his threat earlier this week to fly home before the tournament starts on May 31.

McCarthy was quoted as saying clear-the-air talks with Keane had turned into a slanging match between the two men.

Roy Keane during a training session on Wednesday. (Reuters)

“I cannot and will not tolerate that level of abuse being thrown at me so I sent him home,” McCarthy told the BBC, labelling Keane a disruptive influence. A FIFA spokesman said a player could only be replaced in a squad because of a serious injury. “This appears not to be the case with Roy Keane,” he told Sky Sports television. Ireland, which handed in the names of its 23-strong squad on Wednesday, may therefore start the tournament with only 22 men.

The Manchester United mid-fielder played in the 1994 World Cup and is Ireland’s only world class player. Earlier on Thursday he announced he would quit international soccer after the 2002 tournament. “Yeah, that will be it. That will be it for me and life goes on,” Keane had said.

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Keane’s threat to fly home from the training camp on Tuesday was based on “personal reasons” but he changed his mind after talking to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. “It was the tip of the iceberg,” Keane told Irish reporters in Saipan where the team is preparing for its opening match against Cameroon. “I’ve basically had enough of certain things.”

Keane, who has played almost 60 games for Ireland, was irate about the state of the pitch in Saipan which he said was as hard as a car park. “He’s a good man and he gave me good words of advice,” the United player said of Ferguson.

“You have to listen to these people. The manager has the same temperament as me, he understood what I was going through. He told me to stick it out, but this is it. “You’ve seen the training pitch and I’m not being a prima donna. Training pitch, travel arrangements, getting through the airport when we were leaving, it’s the combination of things.

“I can’t imagine any other country, countries in the world who are far worse off than us, playing on something like that,” the 30-year-old said.

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“But you know, we’re the Irish team, it’s a laugh and a joke. We shouldn’t expect too much.” Keane, who is struggling with a knee injury, is one of the leading mid-fielders in the English Premier League and is famous for his no-nonsense approach both on the field and off it.

(Reuters)