Everton admit Pienaar defeat

Everton have lost out on their appeal to get Steven Pienaar to report late for international duty with South Africa. Everton hoped Pienaar could appear in the League Cup semi-final first leg against Chelsea on Tuesday. Pienaar does not play for RSA until the 23rd of January.

"We are extremely disappointed that a common-sense attitude has not been shown, as has been the case with a number of other federations," Everton secretary David Harrison told the club's official website.

"Despite FIFA's attempts to clarify the regulation, we do feel -- as do a number of other European clubs -- that there is a distinct grey area on this ruling and we are extremely disappointed that this has only been made clear at this late stage."