Roy Keane Has No Regrets 24 Years After 2002 World Cup Exit
Roy Keane says he has no regrets about leaving Ireland’s 2002 world cup squad after the Saipan controversy, 24 years on from the dispute that pushed him out before the tournament. He revisited the episode in the third episode of Micah Richards and Clinton Morrison’s Sky Bet World Cup miniseries Road To America.
Keane On Saipan
“What could I have possibly done differently? How can I have a regret?” Keane said, adding: “Do I wish it had happened? Of course not.” He said the reaction came after a manager called him out in front of a group of players about missing a game with an injury.
Keane’s account was blunt about the point of no return. “If a manager calls a player out in a group of players about missing a game with an injury, where could I go with it? I’m obviously going to react. What other player could have stood there and taken it?” he said. He added that Mick McCarthy could have come to his room that night and said, “Listen, what happened there, wrong call,” and he would have accepted the apology.
Keane And Ireland’s Set-Up
The former Manchester United and Ireland player said he had already spent years inside the national team system. “I was playing for Ireland since I was 15,” he said, noting that he had watched Ireland in 1988 and 1990 and played in the 1994 World Cup. He also said the dispute touched broader standards inside the squad, including travel arrangements, pasta and doing things properly.
Keane said he would have had more regrets if he had stayed silent. “The easiest thing for me [would have been to keep my mouth shut],” he said. “I could have just said: ‘I don’t give a flying f**k.’ But I would be more guilty sitting here; I’d have more regrets if I let all that go.” He also said: “What about the lads coming in after you?” and “What happens afterwards?”
Aftermath Of The Dispute
Keane said things improved in the Irish set-up afterward, tying the fallout to changes that followed the row. “Of course, things did improve [in the Irish set-up],” he said. The story still carries weight in Irish football because the exit came in the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup and has remained a point of debate for 24 years, with a movie released last year becoming a commercial and critical success.
That leaves Keane with the same stance he has carried for years: he does not see the Saipan break as a mistake. For Ireland supporters, the remarks reopen one of the country’s defining football disputes, but they also settle where he still stands — unchanged, and unapologetic.
