Greenwood makes it formal

DESPITE SEVERAL reports outlining ousted England forward Mason Greenwood’s formal application to switch allegiance to the Reggae Boyz yesterday, the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) still cannot confirm when the player could be available to suit up for the country.

Mark Bullingham, the Football Association (FA) executive officer, stated Greenwood had formally asked for a switch of allegiance from the Three Lions to represent the Reggae Boyz.

Bullingham stated, with the request, it would prove impossible for the forward to ever represent England, as it would mean he has tied his international career to Jamaica.

The FA exec said Greenwood’s long-term absence from the England squad was because of former head coach Gareth Southgate not factoring the player into his plans for the future, rather than an FA decision.

“My understanding is he’s asked to switch,” Bullingham said of the Greenwood situation.

“That’s happened formally, so he wouldn’t be able to [represent England] because you can only switch once. Gareth [Southgate] was upfront in that he hadn’t been in his thinking, because he hadn’t been performing at that level. It is a personal decision by him.”

When The Gleaner sought to confirm these reports with the JFF, a credible source, who did not want to speak on record, said there had been no real changes to the Greenwood situation on their end.

Two months ago, as reported by The Gleaner, JFF general secretary Dennis Chung had stated they were waiting on a document to complete the switch, but indicated there was no timeline set.

“Nothing has changed. We are basically waiting on a document. That is all we are waiting on, but we have been waiting on that for a little while and there is still no timeline on when that documentation will be completed,” Chung had explained at the time.

Still, the English FA’s acknowledgement has now made it clear Greenwood intends to don the Reggae Boyz colours.

The delays in getting Greenwood into a Jamaican jersey had raised questions about whether or not the player personally wanted to play for the island. Those questions have been answered.

Greenwood has only been capped once for England, during a Nations League match against Iceland in 2020.

The forward was twice suspended from the England team. In the first instance, Greenwood and teammate Phil Foden had been sanctioned for breaking the team’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols.

In 2022, the forward was suspended by Manchester United because of charges of attempted rape, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and controlling and coercive behaviour.

He was also removed from England’s selection because of the charges which were later dropped in 2023 because of the withdrawal of key witnesses.

That same year, Greenwood sought to revive his career, going out on loan to Getafe in the Spanish top flight before leaving Manchester United on a permanent deal with Ligue 1 outfit Marseille.

The forward has since netted 15 goals and 3 assists in the 24 games played this season.

Jamaica’s next assignment will see them taking on St Vincent and the Grenadines in the Concacaf Gold Cup preliminaries in a two-legged fixture set for March 21 and 25.

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com