Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
King ... He was rude and unapologetic - Boxhill. - FILE
JAMAICAN INTERNATIONAL Marlon King has been booted from the Reggae Boyz training camp, just three days ahead of the historic clash against England, for breaking the team camp curfew.
The Gleaner learnt of the news via an email from the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), which also said the team management and coach, Wendell Downswell, were in a meeting.
Downswell was later contacted via phone and confirmed the report, but stated that there was to be another meeting to deal with appeals from Jason Euell and Jamal Campbell-Ryce, who had also been expelled initially for the same reason.
The coach agreed to an interview after the meeting, but following calls at 5:15 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., an operator at the hotel told The Gleaner that no more calls were being accepted for the night by the president and coach.
However, Boxhill was heard in a radio interview after 6:00 p.m. later, confirming the decision to expel King.
UNAPOLOGETIC
"There was more to it than just breaking curfew and coming late, Marlon King was rude, he was rude and unapologetic," said Boxhill.
"In the discussion that the management team had with him, he was quite unapologetic, which was what really warranted him being expelled from the camp," he went on to say.
He also explained that Campbell-Ryce and Euell, who scored Jamaica's only goal in a 4-1 defeat against Ghana, were repentant and filed an appeal, which was reviewed by the administration and have now been reinstated in the squad. King returned home, while Campbell-Rice and Euell were fined 50 per cent of their match appearance fee. Campbell-Rice trained with the team yesterday, while Euell is expected to return to the squad today.
Reports indicate that after attending a football game, the coaching staff returned to the hotel and held a team meeting. It was at that point that it was discovered that the players were not present and did not return to the camp until the wee hours of the morning.
The players are said to have been further infuriated by the fact that their electronic key card codes were changed and they could not enter their rooms.
Other reports also indicated that King was also angered by the fact that the JFF had owed him money - £2,500, from the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. Boxhill confirmed this, but said that debt was paid before the match against Ghana on Monday.
UPBEAT
Despite what seems to be a disastrous tour so far, as the team was hammered 4-1 by Ghana after arriving just half-an-hour before the start of the friendly, national coach Wendell Downs-well remains upbeat ahead of the England friendly at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium.
"The players trained today and were quite positive, they understand the decisions that were taken, this incident hasn't been really that disruptive to the camp," he said.
"Things have been good, we have played the Ghana game and now we are really looking forward to the England one," he added.
King, who was an instrumental part of Championship outfit Watford qualifying for the English Premiership, will be another notable absence from a squad which is also missing captain of the team, Bolton Wanderer's Ricardo Gardner.
King has been replaced in the squad by fellow striker Deon Burton. Burton, now 29, scored three goals for Championship division outfit Sheffield Wednesday this season, but had 12 for English League One team Rotherham before transferring mid-season.
