Town boss George Burley has hit out at the Nigerian FA after discovering that Finidi George was asked to report to a pre-tournament Nigerian training camp earlier than other Premiership stars.

Finidi joined his national side after Town's Charlton game, although the NFA had initially wanted him even before that. However, the situation is different for Arsenal's Nwankwo Kanu and Chelsea's Celestine Babayaro who don't have to report until after next weekend's Premiership games.

A not impressed George Burley said: "Finidi is a very important player for us and we obviously wanted him to lay as many games as possible but we were told he had to report back before last weekend. Now we hear other Premiership players have been allowed to stay behind longer and we have asked the Nigerian FA for an explanation as to why they have allowed that. We understand that FIFA rules say we cannot keep players two weeks before a competition like the African Nations' Cup but we are asking the NFC why Finidi had to report and other players were allowed longer."

Finidi was voted into second place in the Nigerian Player of the Year at the weekend, PSG's Jay Jay Okacha won the award.

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