Championship outfit Sheffield Wednesday have failed to sign former Leeds United midfielder Rodolph Austin after the 30-year-old was denied a work permit.
Under the current Football Association rules, a non-European player is required to represent a country within FIFA's top 50 rankings over the previous two years in order to be eligible for a work permit.
Austin's country Jamaica though were ranked at an average of 82nd over the course of the specified time, making the midfielder ineligible to be signed.
The player's agent Darryl Powell has revealed that he had a sense of things going wrong once he got off the plane at the Heathrow Airport on Tuesday morning and got a call from the Sheffield Wednesday officials.
The player is eligible to appeal against the decision asking to make exceptions citing his experience and value, but Powell himself is not too optimistic about the outcome.
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"The first indication that anything was wrong was when Rodolph got off the plane at Heathrow on Tuesday morning", Powell told the BBC.
"We were coming through the terminal and I got a call from Sheffield Wednesday to say he definitely wouldn't be getting a work permit.
"It's been very traumatic for Rodolph. The whole transfer saga has been going on since February/March time for him.
"He's devastated. This has changed his whole life."
Austin was released by Leeds United this summer after having managed a total of 101 league appearances over the course of the last three seasons.
