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LENS, France, Feb 20 - Nigeria's John Utaka is
facing disciplinary action from French Ligue 1 club RC Lens
after failing to return on time from the African Nations Cup. "His absence is a problem and he will be fined in
principle", said coach Joel Muller. Nigeria reached the semi-finals and won the third-place
playoff by beating Mali 2-1 on Feb 13. Lens sports director Patrice Bergues, however, was more
conciliatory, suggesting soccer federations were partly
resonsible by asking players to stay back and take part in
post-tournament celebrations. "It's a wider problem than just John Utaka," said Bergues,
who also cited problems with return flights. "We clubs are being asked to release the players on time and
we would like federations to do the same. There will be an
official protest to the federations who did not send their
players back on time." Two years ago, Lens had similar problems with El Hadji Diouf
after Senegal reached the final of the tournament.
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