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Player poaching robs Nigeria of gold medal chance
SYDNEY, Sept 11 (AFP) - Player poaching by club sides had robbed Nigeria of scoring back-to-back Olympic golds, coach Jo Bonfrere said Monday. The Dutchman said many clubs had ignored FIFA directives about releasing players for Olympic duty with Arsenal's Nwankwo Kanu the most notable absentee. He said he had been kept waiting on players arriving late or not at all and while uncertain about his starting line-up for Nigeria's opener against Honduras on Wednesday, he was sure that gold was not achievable. "It is just not possible because of the pressure the clubs in Europe are applying," he told reporters. "It's impossible." Bonfrere said the gifted Kanu was a huge loss and placed the blame on Arsenal, which was reluctant to release him as an over-age player. He said the Premier League side had forced Kanu to sign a contract which prevented him travelling to Australia for the Games. The 24-year-old striker, who led his country to Olympic gold in Atlanta four years ago, decided at the weekend to stay with the London club rather than appear for his country. "I love to play for my fatherland, my country, but I helped us win the Olympic medal four years ago and because of my commitments with my club, I decided it was not quite right to leave Arsenal for so long and try to achieve something I had already achieved before," he said. "I spoke to the coach and the vice president and told them my feelings. Now I just hope that when this is all over I can meet up with the Nigerian national team again." Bonfrere said another concern was over-age player Garba Lawal, 24, who plays with Dutch side Roda and will arrive in Australia late. "They forced him to play on Saturday, otherwise they would not let him go. The club said it does not care about the FIFA rules," Bonfrere said, adding that Lawal should arrive late Monday, giving him just 48 hours to shake off jet-lag. Under FIFA rules, nations competing in the Olympics can expect players to arrive in camp up to six days before the start of competition. Nigeria and Honduras are in the same group as Australia and Italy.
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