Everton play down Fellaini row

Everton have tried to play down the controversy surrounding Marouane Fellaini and insist he will be playing against Wolves this weekend.

Fellaini, who played for Belgium against Turkey on Saturday, has pulled out of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Estonia after citing the need for surgery on his wisdom teeth.

However, his absence has upset the Belgium authorities, who have now asked FIFA to intervene and prevent him from playing against Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday.

Under FIFA rules the world governing body can ban a player from playing for his club for up to five days after an international fixture "in the event that the player, for whatsoever reason, did not wish to or was unable to comply with the call-up".

However, Everton's head of PR, Ian Ross, said:"As a club, we have met all the required obligations. We were required to release Marouane Fellaini for the two international games – which we did.

"We were told that the player had struck an agreement with the Belgian national manager which meant he would be available for their game on Saturday but would then be omitted from Wednesday's game as he required minor surgery to remove a wisdom tooth.

"It would appear that the manager changed his mind and told Marouane that he would, after all, be needed on Wednesday night.

"Marouane said he still intended to go ahead with the operation – hence the resulting problem. It is a dispute between player and manager and does not, as such, involve Everton.

"So, we do expect Marouane to be available for selection for Saturday's game against Wolves."

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