CASTING HAS BEEN announced for a film about the infamous “incident” between Roy Keane and then-Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy that resulted in the team captain being sent home from the World Cup training camp in Saipan in 2002.
The film is described as being about “the events leading up to Ireland’s incendiary 2002 World Cup campaign”. Production will begin on the film this summer.
According to Variety, two-time Oscar nominee Steve Coogan will star as McCarthy in the film.
Irish actor Éanna Hardwicke will play former Ireland and Manchester United football player Keane. He has also appeared in the Irish film Lakelands and TV dramas The Sixth Commandment and Normal People.
Saipan is being directed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa. The pair directed the 2013 Irish comedy-drama Good Vibrations and the 2019 romantic drama Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville.
The film has been written by Paul Fraser and is produced by Macdara Kelleher and John Keville for Wild Atlantic Pictures, who are behind films such as Evil Dead Rise and Cocaine Bear, along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (Kneecap, Bobby Sands: 66 Days).
Patrick O’Neill, Eoin Egan and Rachael O’Kane will serve as executive producers.
The Saipan incident was sparked after a public disagreement between Keane and McCarthy while training for the World Cup.
The team captain was unhappy with the team’s training standards and the quality of the facilities provided by the FAI. After suggesting that he would leave the camp on 21 May, Keane was persuaded to stay.
But that same day, he gave an interview in which he spoke about why he was unhappy in the camp, including the provision of cheese sandwiches, and apparently being asked to train on a pitch that was like a car park.
When McCarthy called a team meeting the day the interview was published, Keane let fly – telling the manager: “I don’t rate you as a player, I don’t rate you as a manager, and I don’t rate you as a person.”
Adding, “you can stick your World Cup up your a**e”, Keane was promptly sent packing from the tournament. This prompted a major split in the Irish public between those who felt Keane was serving his country by seeking higher standards, and those who argued he was deserting it at a time when his midfield skills were most needed.
Keane did not play for Ireland again until 2004, after McCarthy had stepped down as manager.
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired UK and Ireland rights for the film, and are scheduling a saturation theatrical release for summer 2025.
Written by Jane Moore and posted on TheJournal.ie
