Mboma has been named in Cameroon's provisional squad

However officials in Cameroon are denying that a provisional squad has been named yet.

Cameroon's Administrative Manager Andre Nguidjol says that as far as he is concerned no list has been released.

Schafer�s assistant, Martin Ndtougou went onto say a list of 26 players will be released by Schaefer in the first week of January.

Ndtougou also announced that those 26 players will head for a training camp in Spain before the final squad of 22 is named.

The provisional squad is set to assemble in Yaounde by 10 January 10, then head to Spain from 12 January until the 22 January before leaving for the Nations Cup in Tunisia.

However the list that Caf have reportedly been sent includes Mboma, who is currently based in Japan.

The 33-year old veteran is a very popular star in the J-League and was invited by Schaefer for a friendly match against Japan last month.

Mboma was included despite reports that he will undergo surgery to correct a niggling knee injury at the end of the Japanese season.

Lauren is not in Schafer's list

Arsenal defender Lauren however is not on the list.

The 26-year old retired from international football in June 2002 following that year's World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

Lauren was ignored despite his recent statement to BBC online in which he said there there is a possibility he would represent his country at international level again.

Middlesborough's striker Joseph-Desire Job was another notable absentee from the list.

Cameroon are in Group B along with Algeria, Egypt and Zimbabwe at the Nations Cup finals, which start on the 24th of January in Tunisia.