I’M not a soccer fanatic, nor do I know much about the sport, and this is why the arrival of the 23-member Irish 2002 World Cup team on May 19 did not bother me much.
But that changed a bit after the confrontation on Thursday between Manchester United’s captain Roy Keane and national manager Mick McCarthy. Keane is the Ireland team’s biggest star.
McCarthy assembled the team on Thursday night, at which point, according to CNN Sports Illustrated, he and Keane became involved in a “slanging match.”
Keane complained about Saipan’s training facilities. This was something that was immediately picked up by the big foreign media and the wires, including AP, BBC and Ireland Radio. By Friday, the story was all over the Internet and television.
According to reports, Keane was particularly upset about the long flight to Saipan and what he perceived to be “inadequate practice facilities.”
They spent an hour from Ireland to Amsterdam, 11 and 1 /2 hours from Amsterdam to Tokyo and another three hours for the Saipan trip.
They were on Saipan so they could get used to the humidity in the Pacific in preparation for the World Cup games. They underwent daily training at Saipan’s Ada Gym in Susupe.
Keane, the star player, said: “I am banging my head against a brick wall regarding certain issues about this trip, from the training facilities to all sorts. It’s different if we came here to a top training facility. The hotel is fine, but we’ve come here to work. You wonder why players got injured? Well, playing on a surface like that. I can’t imagine any other country, countries in the world who are far worse off than us, playing on something like that. I don’t think it’s too much to ask, just for a pitch that’s even watered. It’s so dangerous. It’s rock hard.”
The team manager branded Keane a “disruptive influence.” Instead of going to Japan for the 2002 World Cup, Keane was sent back to Dublin, Ireland.
The team left Saipan on Friday for Japan and is scheduled to play against Cameroon on June 1.
Saipan has waited long for positive international or foreign press coverage. The arrival of the Irish team boosted Saipan and the CNMI’s image.
But on Thursday night, Keane’s remarks and the actions that followed did not only hurt the Irish team’s international tournament chances, but were also a major blow to Saipan and the CNMI’s reputation.
Whether or not Keane’s bashing of Saipan’s training facility was out of desperation due to deep-rooted conflicts within the team, Saipan’s image had already been hurt. What impression did Keane’s remarks leave to those who learned or heard or watched the news, particularly the potential visitors?
Will the Marianas Visitors Authority counter this bad publicity? But that may be too much to ask for. The government could not even raise MVA’s budget for its overseas promotion of the CNMI as a tourist destination.
If only the foreign press’s coverage of the issue included comments from CNMI sports officials, then we may not even have to do a lot. The local sports officials could have said” “That’s not entirely accurate. Our facilities are adequate, blah, blah.”
The acting MVA managing director said hosting the Irish team was a great opportunity to promote the CNMI to the world.
Despite Keane’s remarks, Vicky I. Benavente said it was still good publicity for the CNMI because the Irish team did not believe his statements and sent him home instead.
However, Keane’s comments also revealed something about Saipan’s sports training facility. This boils down, again, to lack of government funding. The government also needs to pump more money into sports and facilities.
