Capello snubs U-19s final... to host a fund-raising golf event!

Fabio Capello will turn his back on England's emerging generation next week - in order to host a fund-raising golf tournament.

The England boss, who earns £6million a year, has no intention of travelling out to watch Noel Blake's under-19 side in their decisive European Championship group game against France tomorrow.

And even if Blake's Young Lions get through to the Final in Caen tomorrow week, Capello will be 900 miles away on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, where he is hosting a Charity golf weekend at the La Quinta course near Marbella.

Instead of looking at potential England recruits, Capello will be hosting the pre-tournament party for the four-man teams, who are paying over £1000 per head to take part in the event that will raise cash for the Seve Ballesteros Cancer Foundation and ends with a Gala Dinner on Sunday evening.

Capello has been given the green light by the FA to duck out of what would have been a chance to see if any of Blake's youngsters could be in contention for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

The FA believe that only three eligible players, Everton's Jack Rodwell, Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshire and Blackburn defender Phil Jones, are realistic senior side contenders, and all of them have already been earmarked for Stuart Pearce's under-21 side for the coming season.

Pearce and FA director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking have both been in Normandy but Capello has decided not to attend, although he has promised to study the DVDs of the games.

And despite the fiasco of England's World Cup nightmare, there has been no pressure on Capello to show his face in France, with the FA insistent that it would be unusual for any national coach to be present at the tournament on a scouting exercise.

Whether Capello is giving value for money for his £6million annual salary is an increasing point of concern for the England fans who travelled to South Africa in their thousands only to return feeling let down and the Italian has promised to renew his squad.

The farce of the Capello Index and the failure of efforts by the FA and Capello's lawyer, his son Pierfillipo, to get the 64-year-old's connection with the internet site withdrawn, have not exactly helped the Italian's image.

Yet his decision - and the acquiescence of the FA in allowing him to miss the tournament - will only serve to intensify the scrutiny on the England manager if the European Championship qualifying campaign gets off to a poor start.