OUAGADOUGOU: Burkina Faso have dropped controversial Cameroon-born defender Herve Zengue from their squad preparing for the next month’s African Nations Cup finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

This follows uncertainty over whether their place in the finals is at risk in the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month. The move also suggests the Burkina Faso federation may harbour doubts over his eligibility.

Three other foreign-born players, similarly issued with citizenship so they could play for Burkina Faso in the qualifying competition, have been included in a 25-man prepatory group.

They are the Ivory Coast-born trio of Stephane Agbre, Djakaridja Kone and striker Abdou Razak Traore.

However Zengue is the subject of an eligibility protest by Namibia because he helped Burkina Faso beat them in a two-leg qualifying tie last March and June. Namibia wants CAS to declare the matches as having each been lost 0-3 by Burkina Faso and thus send them, instead, to the Nations finals.

Zengue had been selected by Burkina Faso on the basis of marriage but Namibia objected that his selection contravened FIFA statutes. An appeal was rejected by the African confederation so the Namibian federation declared an intention of appealing to the Swiss-based CAS.

CAF and the NFA were asked by CAS to agree a fast-track procedure to settle the dispute, one way or the other, before the Nations finals start on January 21. However such a case does not feature in a list of hearings set down for January by CAS.