England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) rejected Tim
Howard's claim Brad Friedel attempted to block his work permit in 2003.
Howard
has claimed in his soon-to-be published book 'The Keeper' that fellow
American Friedel attempted to "sabotage" his move to Manchester United
from the New York MetroStars by refusing to endorse the younger
goalkeeper's work permit application.
But in an interview on Wednesday, Friedel demanded an apology, arguing Howard's claims were "complete garbage".
Friedel claimed he had been contacted by Howard's representatives to
sign a letter supporting the then 24-year-old's application but was
forced to make some changes because it was "full of exaggerations".
"It said that I had been in direct competition with Tim Howard for
the starting job on the US national team for the last two years, when
anyone who follows soccer knew it was between Kasey [Keller] and I,"
Friedel told ESPN FC.
"Yes, I refused to sign that. We got the letter and said 'We have to change this, because this isn't true'.
"We made our changes and sent it back. They didn't like what I was
going to sign so they didn't use it. And that was the end of the
matter."
Howard's book includes allegations that Friedel contacted the PFA,
telling them not to give Howard a work permit but PFA CEO Gordon Taylor
rejected that claim on Thursday.
"With regard to the appeal by Manchester United on behalf of Tim
Howard, which was successful, we have been asked to confirm that the PFA
did not receive any correspondence from Brad Friedel in opposition of
Tim Howard's work permit application," he said in a statement released
on the PFA's website.
Howard went on to make 45 Premier League appearances with United over
three seasons before joining Everton, where he remains, having played
311 games in England's top tier for the Merseyside club.
Friedel, 43, remains on the books at Tottenham, although he is their
number two goalkeeper behind Hugo Lloris, with the veteran having played
over 400 Premier League matches during stints at White Hart Lane, as
well as with Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool.
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