LONDON // The Sunderland manager Roy Keane has rejected criticism from the Fifa vice-president Jack Warner who has accused him of stopping striker Dwight Yorke from playing for Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup qualifier. Mr Warner, a special adviser to the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation, sent a letter to the club saying Keane had shown a "callous disregard" for smaller nations by not allowing Yorke to play against the United States.
"He wrote me a letter last week about Dwight Yorke, who has officially retired, I think, about five times and he hasn't played for me because of an injury picked up in Portugal," Keane told a news conference. "I spoke to Jack Warner on Wednesday and told him what I thought about him and where he should go. "He's making out he's worried about his international players but, as I say, Yorkie's not been match fit for me for a month or two and he expects him to go and play two games."
Yorke, 36, who recently came out of international retirement, captained Trinidad & Tobago in the 1-1 draw against Guatemala at the weekend. They lost 3-0 to the United States. "It's ridiculous," said the disgruntled Irishman. "I'll be writing a letter back to Jack but, unlike him, I won't be giving it to the media. Mr Warner later responded to Keane's outburst, refuting suggestions he did not care about players' welfare and making reference to the former midfielder's walkout from the Republic of Ireland squad before the 2002 World Cup finals.
"I chose to respond on a Fifa letterhead because that is a privilege afforded me owing to my said status," Mr Warner wrote in another letter to Keane. "Your callousness showed utter disregard for Fifa's regulations over the release of players for international duty. "A player's greatest honour is to represent his country. In spite of that you chose to walk away from yours during the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup after publicly abusing your manager ? an indictment that you will no doubt be proud of up to today."
Sunderland and the Trinidad & Tobago federation clashed in March when Keane said striker Kenwyne Jones and winger Carlos Edwards were unavailable for a friendly in Jamaica because of injury and illness. *Reuters
