FIFA faces a dispute over the release of three players for the London Olympics. French clubs Lorient and Le Mans have each refused to release a player for the Gabon squad, and the west African team have also failed to secure the release of a third player from a Gabon club.

FIFA lost a case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2008 which ruled that clubs were not obliged to release players and the governing body are now monitoring the situation with Gabon.

A FIFA spokesman said: “The National federation are trying to come to an agreement with the clubs. We are aware of the situation and we are maintaining a watching brief.”

(Press Association 24/07/2012, by Martyn Ziegler)