Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) has confirmed Liverpool defender Joel Matip together with six other players  will not be part of their squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

The Liverpool defender, who has not played for his national team since 2014,had been included in a provisional 35-man squad, but declared his intention to pull out earlier this month.

In a strong  statement released by the federation indicates that Matip together with others called the coach by telephone to notify him of their anaivability with Livepool defender stating that he did not want to play with the Lions at the moment due to bad experience with the previous staff. “These players want to privilege their personal interest to the detriment of the national team, which some of them have already used for their development. The Cameroon Football Federation reserves the right to take action against these players in accordance with FIFA regulations”,part of statement reads.

“However, the coach wants to reassure the public that he will put in place the best team possible with players who are motivated and determined to defend the colours of Cameroon.”

The seven players include Alla Nyom (West Bromwich Albion), Adre Onana (Ajax Amsterdam), Guy Ronald Ndy Assembe (Nancy), Andre Zambo Anguissa (Marseille), Maxime Poudje (Bordeaux) and Ibrahim Amadou (Lille).