Aston Villa full-back Jlloyd Samuel has been denied the chance of playing in the World Cup with Trinidad and Tobago due to FIFA regulations.
The 24-year-old has been capped by England at under-21 level but had hoped to qualify for the Caribbean country who are facing a two-legged play-off against Bahrain for a place in the 2006 finals in Germany.
However, FIFA rules state that a player may only switch national association before his 21st birthday.
A `grace period' of 12 months ran from January 1, 2004 allowing players over that age who had not played in senior international competition for their registered association to switch allegiance.
Former Tottenham star Fredi Kanoute was one of the players who took advantage of the change in rules to switch from France to Mali.
