Campbell denies England rift

Campbell says he has moved on

England defender Sol Campbell has insisted that quitting from international football was never an option during his recent troubles.

Campbell has had his problems with the Football Association over disciplinary issues and speculation arose that it might result in him hanging up his boots for England.

"I've got to set the record straight about this," said the 28-year-old Arsenal centre-back.

"Other people have said I'm not going to turn up or pack in playing for England. I've never said that. It has never come from my mouth.

"I want to play forever for England."

I've had a meeting with the coach (Eriksson) and the FA chief executive (Palios) over disciplinary issues...That is true Sol Campbell

Campbell was refused a personal hearing by the FA to appeal against his sending off for an incident involving Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against Manchester United last season.

He was apparently angered at being banned for four games, including the FA Cup final, for his clash with Solskjaer.

And he started this season by being hit with a misconduct charge by the FA after an incident with Manchester United's Eric Djemba-Djemba in the Community Shield.

He will defend himself over that at a personal hearing and, although Campbell says he did speak to high profile FA members about his situation, he insists he is committed to playing for England.

"I've had a meeting with Sven-Goran Eriksson and the FA chief executive (Mark Palios) over disciplinary issues. That is true," he said.

"I was cut up at the back end of last season because I didn't have the right to appeal, so I accepted it."

Campbell added: "I've moved on. You have to move on. I want to play football for my club, my country and I want to win trophies and I want to win European Cups.

"But I've never said that I wanted to quit England."

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