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Aston Villa star banned after controversial podcast comments

Theo

Aston Villa secured qualification for the Champions League after finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, but one of their stars endured a disrupted summer

Leon Bailey speaks in the podcast “Let’s Be Honest”(LET’S BE HONEST/Youtube)

Aston Villa star Leon Bailey has been temporarily suspended by the Jamaica Football Association after speaking out about the association’s professionalism in a podcast over the course of several months.

Bailey, 26, made his debut for Jamaica in 2019 and has scored five goals in 30 international appearances, but was not involved in this summer’s Copa America amid reports he had pulled out of the squad before kick-off. However, the player’s adoptive father and agent Craig Butler branded the situation “misleading” and claimed Bailey continues to take a break from international football for mental health reasons.

The former Bayer Leverkusen winger has not played for his country since the CONCACAF Nations League quarter-final against Canada in 2023. Coach Heimir Halgrimsson had included him in the provisional squad for the Copa America after leaving him out for the international matches in March, but said Bailey had turned down the call-up.

“In his case, he decided not to play for Jamaica,” Halgrimsson told Halftime TV ahead of the tournament. “That’s his decision and every player has the right to refuse to play for the nation and he chose to do that. For me, that’s the end of the story.”

“A lot of people, from my point of view, haven’t really thought about what it’s like for me as Leon Bailey to play for a national team that is nowhere near England in terms of professionalism or anything like that. I’m used to a professional lifestyle,” Bailey told the Let’s Be Honest podcast in March.

“A lot of people don’t know that I usually book my own flights to represent Jamaica because they are very unprofessional. You get your flight details sent to you at 11pm before you have to leave the next day.

“The Jamaican national team doesn’t pay me. I can’t remember the last time I got a dollar from the Jamaican national team,” he added. “It’s very unprofessional, in a way you can’t even imagine.”

Will Leon Bailey ever play for Jamaica again? Share your thoughts in the comments section

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