Mick McCarthy has revealed the reasons behind the most sensational story of the World Cup so far – Roy Keane's sending-home.
The Republic of Ireland manager said that Keane was disrupting his team's preparations for the tournament in Japan and South Korea, and had shown him 'utter disregard and disrespect'.
Speaking in a press conference alongside senior players Steve Staunton, who replaces Keane as captain, Niall Quinn and Alan Kelly, McCarthy confirmed: "Roy Keane will be taking no part in the World Cup - he is going home.
He continued: "There has been an uneasy feeling around the place for a few days. I was asked today for my comments about remarks he made in a newspaper article, and I don't want to be doing that throughout the World Cup because doing tit-for-tat in the media is not my way.
"I called a meeting at 7.30pm (10.30 BST). I got everyone together because I felt it was important to air any grievances among the players or staff.
"I asked anybody to make their comments and unfortunately it became a slanging match. I cannot and will not tolerate being spoken to with that level of abuse being thrown at me so I sent him home.
Keane's presence on the field will certainly be missed by the Republic, and McCarthy acknowledged that the loss of his captain so close to the beginning of the tournament is not ideal. He feels however, that it is in the best interests of the team to continue without the Manchester United star, who had already announced that he would be retiring from international football after the World Cup.
"We all know his ability, but when he makes a public and open show of his opinions, and makes such public criticisms, everybody starts talking about it," McCarthy explained.
"He is one of the best players in the world but he is a disruptive influence. I asked him as captain to give his opinions and I was prepared to be reasonable and rational.
"I know this is one of the biggest stories of the World Cup and it is my decision and I stand by it 100%.
"You don't see too many complaints from anyone else here. But sometimes Roy sees the world through his eyes only.
"I did it with the best interests of the team at heart when I said he should go home.
"I am tired of it," McCarthy continued. "When he wanted to go home the other day he said it was for personal reasons. I said 'is it me? Is it the training ground? Is it the flight? Is it the media circus at the airport?'
"But he just said 'it's none of these, it's personal, it's me, it's me'."
McCarthy now hopes that he and his team can enjoy the rest of their time in Japan and South Korea, after what has been a difficult few days.
He said: "All the players here have a had a great time relaxing but maybe Roy has missed the point.
"This is a weight off my mind. I came here to enjoy the World Cup and I was stopping enjoying it. But from tomorrow I am going to start enjoying it again.
"This is a huge decision but I am happy to go to the World Cup one man down rather than with a man who shows utter disregard and disrespect for me."
FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren confirmed that McCarthry would be unlikely to be allowed to draft in a replacement for Keane, two days after the official deadline for squad nominations.
He said: "According to regulations, a list of players has been nominated by May 21 and from then a player may only be replaced if there is a serious injury up to 72 hours before that team's first match.
"That does not appear to be the case with Roy Keane."
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