Reggae Boyz squad affected by Palestine-Israeli conflict

THE TRUTH being stranger than fiction was perhaps never so apt as the thought that Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz, playing in the Concacaf Nations League in Grenada, could be affected by a war between Israel and Palestine.

But that is the reality that faced Jamaican winger Renaldo Cephas, who is set to miss the Reggae Boyz Nations League games against Grenada on Thursday and Haiti on Sunday.

The Gleaner understands that the 23-year-old forward experienced travel delays in Turkey’s due to that nation’s involvement in the escalating conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine.

A source close to the camp revealed that the Ankaragücü player would not have made it to Grenada until the day of the game and as a result the decision was taken to leave him out of the squad.

“There are challenges in Turkey. There are a lot of delays with flights,” the insider explained.

“If he left Turkey, based on the delays he would not have arrived in Grenada until the match day. But it’s the war in region with Palestine that is what’s causing these delays, so it’s an impact situation.”

Cephas, the former Arnett Gardens player, was called up for the last two Nations League matches against Honduras and Haiti by coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.

He made his international debut in the first match against Honduras but did not feature in the second against Haiti.

Meanwhile, the squad has now been reduced from 23 to 21 players after Javain Brown pulled out due to injury and Adrian Mariappa, due to personal reasons.

However, Damion Lowe, Leon Bailey and Daniel Johnson joined up with the team late yesterday evening and will begin training with the squad this morning.