By Neto Baptiste
At least three starters for the senior national football team have been dropped ahead of the country’s crucial Caribbean Nations League (CNL) clash against Guyana slated for October 11th here at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.
Striker Tevaughn “Peter Redz” Harriette of Parham, midfielder Eugene Kirwan of Greenbay Hoppers and Swetes FC winger Carl Osbourne, were all left out of the Benna Boys squad for the clash on Friday. Reports have, however, indicated that at least two overseas-based players have been included in the squad that has not officially been released to the media.
Harriette and Kirwan have been mainstream players in the senior national squad for some time now with Harriette being a dominant figure on the front line and Kirwan a rising star in the middle of the park. Osbourne, who is relatively new to the squad, has become somewhat of a mainstay in the right-middle position since the departure of veteran Tamarley “Ziggy” Thomas.
There has been no statement from the football association regarding the decision to cut the players, a move which comes barely two weeks after some players went on strike over unpaid match fees and compensation for lost of wages.
However, according to an inside source, the players had been marked “absent” from training during the days of the strike action, as officials in the football association have claimed that they had never been officially informed of any industrial action taken by the players. One of the affected players was however adamant that several members of the management and coaching team had been informed of the action.
Antigua and Barbuda will face Guyana in the must-win contest here starting at 5 pm before playing the return leg to Guyana on October 14th at Leonora National Track & Field Center, starting at 8 pm.