Fenerbahçe clarify Appiah position

Turkish title-holders Fenerbahçe SK have omitted Stephen Appiah from their squad for the second half of the season both to facilitate his recovery from injury and to fill their quota of foreign players with a replacement.

Clarification
Contrary to an earlier report on this website, Fenerbahçe will continue to honour the midfielder's contract throughout this six-month period when he will be unable to play because of a blood clot in his knee. In the absence of the 27-year-old Ghanaian international, Fenerbahçe will attempt to strengthen their options by signing a foreign player and, for this reason alone, Appiah has been let off their latest squad list.

Consensus to omit player
The Istanbul club, who will play Sevilla FC in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round, said: "Following discussions between Stephen Appiah and club doctors, there is a consensus not to include him in the team for the second half of the season to better enable the process of treating his injury. As a result of his absence, an application has been made to the Turkish Football Association to adjust the quota of foreign players: our club would like to include another foreign player in the team for the six months when Appiah is due to be missing. There is no thought at all of cancelling or annulling the contract of Stephen Appiah." According to UEFA Champions League rules, Appiah can be removed from Fenerbahçe's list and replaced by a new name before 1 February.