TOKYO, Japan – Jamaica’s three-match tour of Japan has hit the proverbial bump in the road, with several England-based players prevented from boarding their connection in Amsterdam.

There is now a race against the clock to get the bunch to the Asian country in time for the three-game assignment.

As local-based players linked up with their USA-based teammates in Dallas enroute to Japan on Sunday, news arrived that six of their English-based allies were denied boarding rights in Amsterdam after they were found to be without the specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) coronavirus test results required for entry into Japan.

The east Asian nation is experiencing a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic and faces mounting pressure at home to call off the 2020 Olympic Games scheduled for its capital Tokyo from July 23 to August 8. Japan’s COVID-19 numbers stand at 745,000 in total cases and 12,926 deaths.

It is said the English-based group of players – Blair Turgott, Kasey Palmer, Adrian Mariappa, Dillon Barnes, Liam Moore and Andre Gray – were said to have done tests using swabs from the dual method of the nostril and orally, but Japan only accepts PCR tests done from the nostril.

“So far [this tour] is not going to plan as none of our players coming out of England has arrived yet, for the simple reason that they were told at the airport in Amsterdam that they needed a nasal swab [COVID-19 exam], but they presented test results from nasal and oral swab tests and were turned away. Now they are getting their nasal swabs only to hopefully get on a flight tomorrow (Tuesday),” Jamaica Football Federation President Michael Ricketts told OBSERVER ONLINE on Monday.

Another player, Belgium-based Tyreek Magee, who travelled the Amsterdam route from Jamaica and who is said to possess the appropriate negative COVID-19 test result using the Japanese specific method, did not arrive in Tokyo as scheduled on Monday for reasons unclear.

The Reggae Boyz, the senior men’s football team, arrived in Tokyo on Monday evening with only 10 players of 22 in a last-minute revision of the squad.

Head Coach Theodore “Tappa” Whitmore had originally named 30 players for the three friendly matches – the first against hosts Japan on Thursday, June 3 in Sapporo, followed four days later Monday, June 7 against Serbia in Kobe. Both games fall within the Fifa window for international games.

The Boyz managed to secure a third match against the Japan Olympic team slated for Saturday, June 12 in Nagoya.

With nine influential players opting out for a range of reasons – including Ravel Morrison, Andre Blake, Bobby Reid, Kemar Lawrence, Michael Hector, Alvas Powell and Shamar Nicholson – Whitmore’s squad was whittled down, leaving the coach to manage three matches with bare bones.

Meanwhile, on their arrival at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on Monday evening, the Jamaicans were subjected to a gruelling five hours after landing going through red tapes, firstly to get clearance and then to proceed to the maze of paperwork and eventual COVID-19 testing.

All returned negative results from the airport testing station. On their stay in Japan, all members of the touring party will be tested each day.

Squad: Dennis Taylor, Jeadine White, Dillon Barnes, Liam Moore, Javon East, Curtis Tilt, Kasey Palmer, Oniel Fisher, Amarii Bell, Luca Levee, Andre Gray, Tyreek Magee, Blair Turgott, Adrian Mariappa, Kevaughn Isaacs, Kemal Malcolm, Jahshaun Anglin, Kevon Lambert, Damion Lowe, Wesley Harding, Devon Williams and Junior Flemmings.

Sean Williams