Irish broadcaster shows leading pundit yellow card

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday June 11, 2002 21:56 by Faruk

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DUBLIN - Ireland soccer pundit Eamon Dunphy met yesterday with bosses from state broadcaster RTE after the station suspended him from its World Cup coverage for being "unfit for work."

Dunphy, a controversial figure whose comments on the recent Roy Keane debacle triggered uproar, has admitted he had been drinking and had not slept before appearing on RTE's World Cup Live program on Sunday morning.

"I'd had a few drinks, I hadn't slept and I think I wasn't fit to fulfill my contract to provide proper commentary and I think RTE did the right thing," the former Manchester United and Millwall player said in a statement.

"I owe them [RTE] an apology. I owe the viewers an apology."

Dunphy, who is ghost-writing Keane's biography, was on air for only five minutes on Sunday, but in that time he appeared slumped in his chair and slurred several times.

Never one to mince his words, Dunphy recently had RTE's switchboard jammed with an "unprecedented" 2,000 complaints when he said he wanted Cameroon to beat Ireland in their opening World Cup clash on June 1.

Dunphy, 57, said a defeat would force the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to reform after its role in the row that led to Keane's dramatic expulsion from Ireland's World Cup squad.

Keane was sent home before the start of the tournament after a row with coach Mick McCarthy over training and facilities.

Dunphy's hard-nosed style has seen him frequently embroiled in controversy. In 1990, fans in Dublin overturned his car after Dunphy criticized former manager Jack Charlton, still treated with saint-like status in Ireland for leading the country to their first World Cup finals