Manchester City captain Kolo Toure says current football laws are threatening the development of African talent.

From the demands of national associations for the African Nations Cup, to the UK's work permit laws, Toure is worried that Africa's best players are seeing their development curtailed.

He told the News of the World: "African players are in a difficult situation. We want to play for our national teams and we also want to fight for our clubs. If something can be done to move the tournament, that would be fantastic.

"The clubs are put off signing guys who have to play for their countries half-way through the season - especially when, in the past, they have struggled without their players.

"This is not fair because the programme isn't made by us. There are some big guys above us who have big questions to answer because they control the schedule and make the decisions.

"There are too many rules governing (players') movement. Even in England you have to have played 75 per cent of your national team's games. FIFA and the Confederation of African Football are making it hard for us to move to top European clubs.

"I can tell you that the danger with the current system is that it suppresses young African men, who will never get out of poverty and be able to experience what I and others have.

"There are guys more talented than me in the Ivory Coast and they just end up quitting the game and becoming hairdressers because of this rule. That's really, really unfair."