Mark Gleeson BBC Sport, Cape Town

Fortune has been removed from the South Africa squad

Manchester United have withdrawn midfielder Quinton Fortune from South Africa's squad to play in an international against Jamaica on Wednesday.

The English club say the left-sided midfielder is not fit enough to travel.

The South African Football Association have been told by the English premier league leaders that Fortune has not recovered sufficiently from a long-standing thigh injury to make the long trip to Cape Town.

This is despite the superb pass that Fortune delivered for Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy that saw Manchester United win 2-0 at Tottenham on Sunday.

Fortune also came on for United in their Champions League clash with Real Madrid the week before.

South African team manager Stanley Tshabalala said he had been told that Manchester United felt the flight might aggravate the old injury.

"All I can say for the moment is this is an unfortunate situation.

"A player is told he cannot travel because he has a hip injury but can play a match (against Real Madrid) and get involved in tackles for his club, yet cannot do so for his country," Tshabalala said.

Fortune has not played for South Africa since the World Cup finals in South Korea last year, missing out on previous matches through injury or club commitments.

South Africa play Jamaica in a friendly at Cape Town on Wednesday, using the game to officially launch their 2010 World Cup bid.

Coach Ephraim Mashaba said no replacement will be called up to take Fortune's place in the squad.