Bailey Rejects Reggae Boyz Call Up

Coach Hallgrimson said that Bailey is within his right to reject a call up into the Copa America

Leon Bailey has rejected a call up into the Reggae Boyz squad that will represent Jamaica in the upcoming Copa America tournament.
Heimir Hallgrimsson, the Reggae Boyz coach, has said that he is prepared to lead Jamaica into Copa America. He expects his squad to perform even without the in-form Leon Bailey.
The Icelandic coach said that players have a right to choose whether or not they want to play for their country. Hallgrimsson said that he would like the media and the fans to focus on the players that want to wear the Jamaican jersey. He insisted that he doesn’t want to dwell on the topic. ”That’s the end of the story for me,” said Hallgrimsson.
On Wednesday, Hallgrimsson had named a squad that included the Aston Villa winger. This inclusion brought some controversy. In May, Bailey said that he wanted to take a break from the national team. This announcement came after coach Hallgrimsson suspended because of indiscipline.
Bailey described his latest inclusion in the national team as release ‘misleading’. This response was delivered through his social media page.
The 26-man squad is made up of some big names like Demarai Gray, Shamar Nicholson, Brentford defender Ethan Pinnock, Andre Blake and Joel Latibeaudiere. Renaldo Cephas, Michail Antonio, Leon Bailey, Kaheim Dixon will also be part of the squad.
Craig Butler, Bailey’s manager, said that his client’s stance had not changed. He revealed that Bailey will focus on fixing his mental health and spending time of his family.
However, Dennis Chung, the JFF general secretary, said that the winger was called up because Butler had a positive conversation with Hallgrimsson. The Jamaica Football Federation has had many problems with Butler and Bailey in the past. Chung said that the coach included Bailey because he would add value to the team. He added that “It was up to the head coach to do what is best for the team.”
Chung revealed that Butler wanted JFF to provide security for Bailey. However, Chung told him that the federation wasn’t in a position to provide security to any individual players. He encouraged Bailey to bring his own security to the tournament.
Jamaica’s opening game will be against Mexico on June 23, 2024. Hallgrimsson said that the his squad will deliver good results because most of the players have performed for Jamaica before.

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