KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC– President of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, has rejected reports from England that Jamaican international midfielder Rudolph Austin suffered a broken leg on Saturday while representing his club Leeds United against Watford.
Leeds manager Neil Warnock had said that Austin had broken his leg in two places and could miss Jamaica’s first three world cup qualifiers next year.
“He has broken his leg in two places and will be sidelined for at least six months” Warnbock told the Sun.
“Leeds have lost a football match but a player has lost his livelihood for months and our thoughts are with him, his wife and family”.
But speaking with TVJ Sunday night, Burrell said that the initial reports on the injury were exaggerated.
“We have been reliably informed that there is absolutely no fracture at this stage” declared the JFF president.
“And the extent of the injury is not as serious as everyone thought as first and that tomorrow (Monday) the doctors would have done their job …MRI and so on and the exact details of his injuries will be known”.
National coach Theodore Whitmore, who is in England scouting for players, has also been quoted in the Jamaica media as saying that there was no fracture as reported in the British press.
The 27 year old midfielder, considered the best player for the Reggae Boyz in the CONCACAF semi-final round, was stretchered off early in the second half of Saturdays 6-1 defeat by Watford.
The scare for Jamaica comes just under three months from the opening CONCACAF Hexagonal Round World Cup qualifier against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico
