On the BBC football website
"Ben White's decision to make him self unavailable for selection for England is understandable, say former Premier League players Nedum Onuoha and Cesc Fabregas.
The Arsenal defender has been in good form this season for his club, helping them to the top of the table and the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
England boss Gareth Southgate said after revealing his squad for the upcoming friendlies with Brazil and Belgium that "White would be in this squad but he's not available to us", adding "it is a great shame".
Speaking on the Planet Premier League podcast, Onuoha said: "I think Ben White in some ways has been good for football because he's made people realise the way we perceive people's aspirations is not always the way that other people do.
"If he doesn't want to play international football, it's not that he doesn't feel he's English or whatever. When he plays for Arsenal, he's in his [own] bed, probably 90% of the of the season you work and then you go home and he can do his own thing. Being away for long periods of time isn't something that's great for everyone."
Ex-Gunners captain Fabregas added: "I think it's the society we live in at the moment. I go back again to what I always say - it's all about the money.
"Footballers get paid a lot of money and it feels like they should all be focusing on footballer no matter what. Be an example for everything and you cannot make mistakes. Every error is being punished double or triple than that of a normal human being. This is the life we are in, the one that we have to accept.
"I know plenty of guys - I will not mention names - that they finish training sessions and they just want to go home because they don't really love football. They love playing football, they really enjoy it, the competition, they're competitors, are winners. They like the moment for this hour and a half, two hours of being there, but after that, they don't watch football. They don't want anything to do with football.
"It is not something that happens very often. Maybe only 5% of the players are like that, but it is what it is and we need to respect it."