An NFA chief, Dominic Oneya, has been quoted as saying "Kanu and the other players who refused to play for the country will not go unpunished. We cannot afford to let the matter go like that, so as not to set a bad precedent."

He didn't say what punishment they might receive, but other officials suggested that the players might be dropped from a couple of international matches. Bizarre or what? That would only serve to weaken Nigeria on the pitch even further.

It'd be great news for Arsenal of course, who are expecting to be losing Kanu for World Cup qualifers. But at the end of the day you can't take anything coming from these people too seriously, if ever there was a case of "too many chiefs" it's the NFA, and often they contradict each other.

The NFA has set up a committee to investigate the Olympic disappointment. They're due to submit a report in 2 weeks, which will doubtless highlight the role of Kanu, Okocha, and Oliseh. But as we understand things, Okocha and Oliseh were granted their wish to be left out, with much less fuss from the NFA than over Kanu. That would both focus the NFA's attention on Kanu, and weaken their case against him.