Sochaux's Moroccan striker Jawad Zairi could be one of the players affected

Got an opinion? Express it here. Each week we throw up a different subject to let followers of African football have their say. Some of your views will be read on Fast Track - the BBC's African sports programme.

Football's world governing body Fifa has declared that European clubs are not obliged to release African players for the final round of the 2004 Olympic qualifying series.

Africa snubbed by Fifa ruling

This is because the matches fall outside of Fifa's international calendar - the reason several French clubs are refusing to release players for the African qualifying programme.

Sixteen African nations now face the prospect of trying to qualify for Athens without many of their European-based players.

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So who do you think is to blame for the confusion?

Are the European clubs being selfish in refusing to release their contracted players?

Or did Caf err by failing to schedule the Olympic ties within the co-ordinated international football calendar?

No matter how controversial your views might be, use the form on the right to have your say.

I think it is wrong that the clubs are holding these players back, because they do not use them in several first-team games and secondly, these players have a right to play for their countries. It appears that our players have become the property of other nations.
Boma, Mexico City

Clubs pay big bucks to get these African stars to play for them. They shouldn't have to negotiate with their countries at all. The only people to blame are the idiots that design the olympic fixture list
Jon, UK

I think Fifa and the European clubs are right in refusing to release players. We have refused to develop our own leagues - which would have enabled us to draw from another pool of players and ultimately reduced our dependence on foreign-based players.
Morgan A. Nanim, Port-Harcourt, Nigeria

European clubs not allowing contracted African players to play for their countries are robbing Africa of what belongs to her. I'm tired of seeing Africa and Africans being used, dumped and left in the middle of a mess created by Europe's exploitation of our talent. We just want our players to help our countries achieve the best that we possibly can in the international arena.
Tope Idowu, USA

It's a tough situation because the selfish European clubs never want to release top African players. Nigeria has had to use less reputable players for some crucial games, while the likes of West, Okocha and Ayegbeni fail to get released. Why should African nations be forced to adhere to the schedule of European countries? We have our own needs too.
Kevin O., Orlando, Florida, USA

The clubs are only looking out for themselves, but this is normal. Fifa should have included these matches in their international calendar.This situation would have a negative effect on some African countries who will end up not qualifying for the Olympics because they do not have their best players.
Ahmad Asem, USA

I do think that European-based African players should not have to come to rescue their nations in every qualifying game. If they did, local players will never get the chance to play for their countries.
Jaymin Patel, Lusaka, Zambia