Fifteen members of the Venezuela national team have warned they will not play the remainder of their 2018 World Cup qualifying fixtures unless federation officials are replaced.
The players, among them West Brom forward Jose Salomon Rondon, are angry with comments from Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) president Laureano Gonzalez, who accused them of trying to get head coach Noel Sanvicente sacked in an interview given to a national newspaper.
A statement signed by the players and published on Monday read: "We do not accept under any circumstances the statements made by FVF president Laureano Gonzalez, who told the Lider that the players were 'working on a scheme to get the coach sacked'.
"Such statements are completely false and violate our honour and reputations.
"Likewise we must express great disappointment at the lack of support from the national team's management following these allegations.
"Unlike some, we have always maintained the desire to fight to the last point to achieve our primary objective, which is to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
"We do not agree that the current directors of the FVF can continue working, as both how they have treated us and how they have handled the World Cup campaign are not acceptable.
"We as a team feel a complete managerial change is needed so that the work of the last eight years is not lost. At this point in the qualifying campaign, a timely change is vital.
"Our integrity is not negotiable and the damage done can only be repaired by replacing the leadership of the FVF. We cannot continue in an atmosphere that has been damaged by these directors."
Venezuela have lost all four of their CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying matches - to Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador - and next play fellow strugglers Peru in March.
Source: PA
