Portsmouth desperate for delayed call-up of African players

Portsmouth have pleaded with the football associations of Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria and Ivory Coast to waive their right to call up six of the club's first-team players for the Africa Cup of Nations two weeks before the competition starts on 10 January, reports The Guardian.

The Premier League's bottom club could enter the transfer window without the ability to strengthen a threadbare squad due to the league's player registration embargo. This has made it all the more imperative that they can call on Nwankwo Kanu, John Utaka, Aruna Dindane, Hassan Yebda, Nadir Belhadj and Kevin-Prince Boateng for an extra week.

That would allow them to play in the league game against Arsenal on 30 December and in the FA Cup against Coventry City on 2 January.

Fifa rules state that the six players have to join their international teams immediately after the Boxing Day trip to West Ham, if their national associations insist on them being available for the full fortnight before the Africa Cup of Nations starts in Angola.

Although executives at Portsmouth have made their African counterparts aware of their predicament, it is thought they are not optimistic of success.