Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has responded to an apparent WhatsApp voice message which emerged on social media in relation to an altercation between assistant manager Roy Keane, Harry Arter and Jon Walters.
O'Neill was speaking to the press ahead of the Republic of Ireland's friendly against Poland on Tuesday night and claimed it was not the first incident that occurred between players and management.
"First of all the incidents took place at the end of May. They have surfaced months later. It's not the first altercation between players and staff. I had one with the man beside me on Friday (David Meyler) and he took it on board."
Earlier today, an account of the altercation between Keane and the players circulated online. It described Keane's angry response to the players indicating they could not train. As reported by RTE, O'Neill went on to attribute the audio to Stephen Ward and claimed that version "doesn't tally" with actual events.
First of all I don’t think Stephen was there. Stephen wasn’t actually there so I think he is just picking up on things, something we (O’Neill and the media) talked about at the beginning of the week. There probably isn’t anything more to really report.
"There was a confrontation with Jon and a confrontation with Harry. Jon is absolutely fine. Harry is perhaps not so fine. But I said to you before, you have to ask if that is the complete reason why Harry is not here and not participating in these games at this time.
Details of the row between Roy Keane and Harry Arter have continued to emerge in recent days. According to The Sunday World, the row - which took place back in June - began after Arter and Jon Walters were advised by FAI medical staff not to train.
Stephen Ward has been ruled out of the squad due to a foot injury. Ireland take on Poland at the Municipal Stadium in Wroclaw on Tuesday, September 11. Kick off takes place at 7.45pm.
