The in-form forward, who made his national debut against Panama in the previous round, was expected to be part of the team for three upcoming matches against the United States, Canada, and Honduras.
With the USA game expected to kick off on Thursday, however, the player has communicated via a brief release that he will not be joining up with the squad as planned.
“I can confirm that, unfortunately, I will not be joining up with the Jamaica national squad for the World Cup qualifying matches this week. Myself, West Ham United, and Jamaica have all agreed that, given the logistical and travel difficulties involved at present, it is better for me to remain with the Club in London at this time. I remain fully committed to Jamaica and look forward to representing my country in the future.”
The news will come as a blow to a Jamaica forward line-up that will be somewhat shorthanded. The team will also be without Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey who remains unavailable due to injury and Philadelphia Union’s Corey Burke who suffered an ankle injury in training. Defender Liam Moore, Ethan Pinnock and midfielder Daniel Johnson have also withdrawn from the squad.
According to a report in the Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom, Jamaica wants to secure the powerful West Ham forward in time for the CONCACAF qualifiers in September against Mexico and Costa Rica.
However, JFF General Secretary Dalton Wint told Sportsmax.TV this morning that the player has shown some interest but nothing has been confirmed.
Should there be a successful transfer of allegiance, Antonio would join the likes of Ravel Morrison, Gregory Leigh, and Daniel Johnson as UK-born players who have chosen to represent Jamaica in the past three months and who debuted during two international friendlies against Saudi Arabia in November 2020.
He would also be player ranks that include the talented Leon Bailey, who now plies his skills with Bayer Leverkusen in Germany’s Bundesliga.
Jamaica, the report said, had tried to secure Antonio’s skills from 2016 but the player preferred to focus on his chances of representing England. Antonio, 30, has been part of England squads but has yet to make his England debut.
Sam Allardyce called Antonio up to the England squad in August 2016 for a 2018 World Cup qualification match against Slovakia in Slovakia on September 4, 2016, but was an unused substitute.
England manager Gareth Southgate called Antonio to the England squad in March 2017 for a friendly international against Germany and again for the 2018 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania later that month.
However, Antonio withdrew from the squad after picking up a hamstring injury.
Antonio has scored six goals from 14 starts for West Ham so far this season.
In 1998, when Jamaica qualified for the World Cup in France, the team was bolstered by the inclusion of Deon Burton, Paul Hall, Robbie Earle, and Frank Sinclair.
