Following the completion of Juan Roman Riquelme's move from Villarreal to Boca Juniors yesterday, FIFA can confirm that the Argentina playmaker will not be eligible to take part in the forthcoming FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

Boca, like all the participating clubs, were aware of - and complied with - the strict deadline of Friday 23 November 2007 for submitting a final list of players for this competition. Riquelme's name did not appear on the list provided by the South American champions and, as such, could not be included in the Boca squad published today along with those the other Japan 2007 participants.

The issue of player eligibility for the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2007 is clearly addressed in the competition regulations, and in particular in Article 8, paragraphs 8.1 and 8.2 of those regulations, which state: "Each Club entering the Competition shall send a provisional list of 30 players (of whom at least three shall be goalkeepers) to the FIFA general secretariat by 1 November 2007. The provisional list will be published by FIFA. By 23 November 2007, each Club shall narrow down the provisional list to a final list of 23."