Sky sports quote NFA spokesman Samuel Kaalu as saying on Monday, "The foreign clubs are looking down on the Nations Cup and they have pushed us to a point where we have to invoke the Fifa rule".

As Arseweb reported on Saturday, Nigeria had demanded Kanu's presence at their training camp on Monday, and they were quite within their rights to do so. Of course, everyone thinks it's daft that they persist in having the African Nations Cup at this time of year now that so many of the players involved are playing in European leagues. But that's hardly Nigeria's fault.

Arsene Wenger's apparent attitude is reminiscent of his failure to admit seeing certain incidents on the pitch. On Saturday he was quoted as saying that things would be sorted out sometime this week, and since then he's been quoted as saying that the question of Kanu's availability for the Villa game is a situation which "we need ... clarified by Wednesday morning at the latest.". All this comes after Nigeria appear to have demanded Kanu's presence yesterday.

Of course, as Arsenal fans we want Kanu available for Sunday's match at Villa Park. But we don't want to end up being punished by FIFA for blatant disregard for their rules. It appears that Arsenal may be colluding with other European clubs who have also not released their players, such as Chelsea, Bolton, Portsmouth and PSG but it seems to be that the involvement of moir ethan 1 club won't make it any less likely that FIFA will act. A fine would be worth it to have Kanu available against Villa (so long as we win), but if we play him against FIFA's rules they could insist on loss of points. And Kanu could end up not playing in the Nations Cup anyway because their coach might not pick the latecomers.