PORT OF SPAIN, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Trinidad and Tobago's British-based players are coming under increasing pressure from their clubs to quit international soccer, the country's football federation said on Wednesday.
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation's (TTFF) official website said striker Stern John of English second division Coventry City was the latest player to be asked to quit the Soca Warriors."It's harder than ever now for me to come back and play for the country," John was quoted as saying after arriving home for Sunday's World Cup qualifier against St Kitts and Nevis.
"The gaffer (Coventry manager Peter Reid) has even asked me to quit playing for Trinidad because he thinks it's taking too much out of me.
"But I've already decided that I want to give it one last try to reach a World Cup and I'll see how things go from there.
"It's a sacrifice we are making because we are committed to T&T," added John, the team's leading scorer with four goals in the qualifiers.
Sepp Blatter, president of soccer's world governing body FIFA, has criticised clubs for failing to respect the wishes of players who want to play for their countries and on Wednesday labelled the behaviour of Chelsea and Coventry "unacceptable".
MUTU CONFLICT
Striker Adrian Mutu is in conflict with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after declaring himself fit to play for Romania against the Czech Republic on Saturday against Mourinho's wishes.
"Stern John has been asked to play for T&T and has been threatened by his coach Peter Reid that if he goes he may lose his position in the team," Blatter said on FIFA's official website.
"We cannot accept this happening at a time we are trying to find a workable situation with the international calendar. We will write to the clubs and ask them for fair play."
Trinidad are top of Group C in the second stage of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers and are expected to advance into next year's decisive six-team tournament where they will face another 10 games.
They have six points from three matches in a group which also includes Mexico, favourites to take the other spot, St Vincent & Grenadines and St Kitts & Nevis.
The TTFF listed Marvin Andrews, Brent Sancho, Brent Rahim, Anthony Rougier, Kenwyne Jones, Cornell Glen, Clayton Ince, Shaka Hislop and Dennis Lawrence as other players who were "all facing situations with their respective clubs".
"Right now, my manager would be the happiest guy around if I didn't have to play in the World Cup qualifiers, and talk about giving up international football has been a topic around," said Sancho, who plays for Scottish club Falkirk.
"But it's all something that we are committed to. Whether the clubs are happy or not, they will have to understand."
