The Saipan incident was a public quarrel in May 2002 between Republic of Ireland national football team ‘s captain Roy Keane and director Mick McCarthy when the team was preparing in Saipan for its matches in Japan in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It resulted in Keane, a key player, being sent home from the squad. The incident divided populace opinion in Ireland regarding who was to blame .

background [edit ]

Roy Keane signing autograph in 2005. Keane was the captain of the Irish national team ; since his aged debut under Jack Charlton and then-captain McCarthy, Keane had perceived problems with the preparations of the irish side. He regarded the Football Association of Ireland ( FAI ) ‘s preparations as unprofessional and challenged both Charlton and McCarthy in a number of noteworthy incidents. [ 1 ]

Among Keane ‘s issues with irish management were the conditions of the clique, travel arrangements ( which made the players sit in second class seats on flights, while FAI officials sat in first course ), scheme, expectations, diet, and McCarthy ‘s competence. In his autobiography, Keane said that before a World Cup qualifier away versus the Netherlands, the irish players were eating tall mallow sandwiches because the more desirable pre-match meal of pasta was not available. [ 2 ]

World Cup formulation [edit ]

The island of Saipan was selected by an FAI deputation as an initial base. From management ‘s perspective the time was considered a period of relative stay and refreshment at the end of a long season before moving to Japan to up the planning levels for the tournament. Keane, on the early hand, who is reputed to have told Alex Ferguson that he was going to the World Cup “ to win it ”, viewed it as a period of formulation for the World Cup Finals. He consequently became dissatisfy when facilities and general readiness did not match his expectations. On 22 May Keane decided he was going home but subsequently changed his mind and stayed on. [ 3 ]

The media [edit ]

irish broadcaster RTÉ became aware of the develop row, as did respective Irish newspapers. Because of its detached placement, there were certain stories circulating about the event which were all critical of Keane. The Daily Star newspaper had been a harsh critic of Keane for months in the run up to the competition. This included haunting allegations about Keane ‘s commitment to the Irish team. contrary to what many believe, that is, that Keane gave an interview to leading sports diarist Tom Humphries of the Irish circular daily newspaper The Irish Times, Keane had actually primitively agreed to give the interview to Paul Kimmage of The Sunday Independent. Kimmage then agreed to let Tom Humphries join in on the interview, but made him promise not to print the article until after Kimmage ‘s column on Sunday. Humphries reneged on the deal and in review this proved to be a major scoop for the Irish Times. In the article, Keane listed the events and concerns which had led him to decide to leave the team. This article included details and references to the preparations that had been set in rate for the Irish team. This would be an indirect deduction that the event was organized as a junket for FAI government officials. The article was seen as a conduct insult to the authority of the Irish coach, and the competence of the FAI .

The incident [edit ]

The Irish Times article increased tensions greatly. McCarthy decided to question Keane about the article. In a team meet McCarthy held up a copy of the article and asked “What’s this all about?”, and an argument started. McCarthy then accused Keane of faking injury when Ireland were playing Iran in the second stage of the play off. Keane then unleashed a cutting verbal tirade against McCarthy : Mick, you ‘re a liar … you ‘re a fuck tosser. I did n’t rate you as a player, I do n’t rate you as a director, and I do n’t rate you as a person. You ‘re a sleep together tosser and you can stick your World Cup up your arse. The entirely reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the director of my state ! You can stick it up your bollocks. ” [ 4 ] Mick McCarthy then held a press conference announcing that he had sent Keane home. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Niall Quinn observed in his autobiography that Roy Keane ‘s 10-minute oration [ against Mick McCarthy ] … was clinical, ferocious, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in irish society. ” But at the like time, he was besides critical of Keane ‘s position, saying that “ [ He ] left us in Saipan, not the other way round. And he punished himself more than any of us by not coming back. ” [ 7 ] none of his team-mates voiced digest for Keane during the meet, though some later expressed their defend to him privately. Keane mentioned in his autobiography that Gary Breen and David Connolly visited his room. aged players Steve Staunton and Niall Quinn seemed to take the side of McCarthy, and the FAI, in the argument that followed. Staunton was the most loyal to the FAI line of the argument. He was late given the captainship in Keane ‘s absence. [ 8 ]

Consequences [edit ]

Despite the efforts of the media and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Keane and McCarthy failed to resolve the battle and Keane missed the World Cup. Keane gave an interview concerning the controversy to RTÉ and when asked if it was potential to go back he did not deny that he might. The irish football team were defeated in a penalty gunfight by Spain in the second turn .

The Genesis Report [edit ]

The FAI commissioned a report from external consultants Genesis, into its World Cup preparations. The “ Genesis Report ” agreed with many of Keane ‘s criticisms, finding that the FAI structure was not conducive to good design and making a range of recommendations. [ 9 ] The complete report was not published for legal reasons. [ further explanation needed ] Brendan Menton resigned as FAI General Secretary at this fourth dimension, and the media linked the two events, though Menton denied this .

McCarthy ‘s passing [edit ]

Roy Keane stated that he would not play again for Ireland under McCarthy, and in his autobiography even said that his former national team coach could ‘rot in hell ‘. McCarthy continued as national team director and Ireland then played Russia in a passing match for the european Championship. Ireland lost to a badly resourced russian team 4–2, who had played badly in the World Cup. This was followed by a “ boo ” episode in Ireland ‘s adjacent qualifier against Switzerland, with many fans blaming McCarthy. Ireland lost the game 2–1 at Lansdowne Road. In the face of rebellion on the terraces, a decrease in accompaniment for the national team, and attendant declining attendance revenues, the FAI decided to remove McCarthy. The appointment of Brian Kerr as team director in 2003 led to Keane ‘s rejoinder to external football on 27 May 2004, in a friendly match against Romania at Lansdowne Road. He played his final international game the be year, having been capped 67 times for the nation since 1991. He retired from playing at club tied in 2006. Ireland failed to qualify for any major tournament until 2011, when after beating Estonia they qualified for the 2012 european Championships .

Settling differences [edit ]

As of November 2006, Keane appeared to have mended the fences with McCarthy when the two men settled their differences via a earphone call ahead of a peer between McCarthy ‘s Wolverhampton Wanderers and Keane ‘s Sunderland. The handshake between the two men received considerable media attention. In April 2007, the managers again met in another match, and Keane praised McCarthy for his work in Sunderland previous to Keane ‘s tenure there. In December 2013, Keane, talk in an ITV4 documentary, admitted his sorrow at missing out on the 2002 World Cup and said that he should have put his personal issues with McCarthy to one side for the sake of the area, saying “ To play in the World Cup. It would have been nice to play, A bunch of people were defeated, peculiarly my family. ” [ 10 ] [ 11 ]

popular culture [edit ]

The incidental was sol dissentious that it was called a “ civil war ” for Ireland. The Irish Times late wrote that “ [ meter ] ost people have … a report of a split between families, between friends, between influence colleagues. ” [ 12 ] In 2005, a musical comedy playing period parodying the incident and its key players, I, Keano, opened in Dublin. The bid, written by Arthur Mathews, Michael Nugent, and Paul Woodfull, represented the incident as a mock-epic melodrama about a Roman legion preparing for war. Keane attended a performance of the show, [ 13 ] which ran in Dublin until May 2008.

In an echo of the incident, three chief roll members, including Mario Rosenstock, who portrayed “ Keano ” ( the play ‘s version of Roy Keane ), left the show early in its beginning run, leading to media articles about life imitating art imitating life. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ]

References [edit ]