Leon Bailey has declared that he will “take a break” from the Jamaican national team over issues stemming from what he called a low level of professionalism.
Ahead of the Reggae Boyz’s Concacaf Nations League semifinal against the U.S. men’s national team, the Aston Villa winger lit into the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) — long a target of criticism from players on its national teams — over basic missteps involving equipment, travel arrangements, and more.
Speaking on the Let’s Be Honest podcast, Bailey was unsparing in his criticism of the JFF.
“A lot of people don’t know that most of the time, I book my own flights to come and represent Jamaica because they are very unprofessional,” explained Bailey. “You’re getting your flight details [at] 11 p.m. to travel the next day. [The JFF] doesn’t pay us. I can’t remember the last time I received a dollar from the national team. It’s very unprofessional, in ways you can’t even imagine.”
Bailey then turned to how even being provided with team apparel to train in has been a problem.
“You’re turning up and they don’t have equipment for you. You’ll go and they’ll only have one shirt for you, and you have to find shorts,” said a bemused Bailey. “Players turn up to games and it’s a women’s shirt they print out for them to wear. It’s ridiculous and they don’t know how to operate.”
Bailey gave something of a conflicting accounting of whether he had let Jamaica know about the problems. At one point, he told host Jaii Frais he hadn’t, but later said he butts heads with the JFF in every international window.
“It’s two things I’ve always asked them for, and every time, I can’t get it. You have people booking flights for me and sending me from England to Jamaica with three different stops,” insisted Bailey. “All I ask for is a proper flight and a room by myself, and I can’t get that. If I don’t go the national team, I can go on my vacation and I can live good.”
Bailey: Jamaica’s national team ‘not doing anything for me’
Bailey wouldn’t have been available to take on the USMNT on Thursday, as head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson had suspended him over missing curfew during a November camp.
Bailey admitted that he did violate team rules, but said he took exception to how Hallgrímsson presented the news to the public.
“I did break curfew, but that’s normal. Every player does that,” said Bailey, who added that the suspension was not so much of a big deal in and of itself as it was just the last straw. “It’s just the way how it was presented that I didn’t like.
“[Hallgrímsson] did say to me that he wasn’t going to invite me to the next camp but, way before this happened, I always had it in my head that this is too much on my plate when it comes to the national team, and I was really going to take a break from it, and then [the suspension] just tipped off everything… I felt that was really harsh and it just said to me that me being in the national team right now, it really drains my energy a lot.”
Bailey won’t be alone in missing the match for Jamaica. Striker Michail Antonio withdrew from the roster for unspecified reasons, while Trivante Stewart is suspended by the team over a curfew violation last year. Ethan Pinnock and Amari’i Bell are unavailable due to injury, while Demarai Gray and Shamar Nicholson are suspended due to yellow-card accumulation.
Beyond that, the 26-year-old framed his appearances with Jamaica as a favor to the national team that he does out of pride in his country.
“Jamaica’s national team is not doing anything for me,” explained the Villa star. “Jamaica’s national team is not going to give me exposure. Playing for Jamaica is not going to make Real Madrid call me. I am shining light on the national team by playing overseas and representing as a Jamaican all the time. People know Leon Bailey everywhere in the world…
“I am Jamaican and I love my country, and hopefully one day my kids can come up and grow up in a better environment than I did. But sometimes I think about it and realize that these things were happening before I was born so, can I be the change?”
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