Tottenham Hotspur expect to learn on Wednesday that they will lose their top scorer Frederic Kanoute for up to five matches while he plays for Mali in the African Nations Cup.

FIFA's Status Committee, which rules on the eligibility of players, is meeting to discuss the case of Kanoute, Lamine Sakho of Leeds United and Mohamed Sissoko of Valencia.

All three represented France as Under-21s but under new rules agreed at FIFA's congress in Doha in October and which came into force on January 1, they have applied to FIFA for a change of nationality as they have dual citizenship.

Kanoute and Sissoko have been called up to represent Mali, while Sakho is waiting to hear whether he is eligible to play for Senegal in the tournament in Tunisia which starts on January 24.

Spurs, who have slipped into the relegation zone after a run of poor results, are especially upset at losing Kanoute who has scored 12 league and cup goals for them this season, including a hat-trick in their 3-0 FA Cup win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

They say that when they signed the player for 3.5 million pounds ($5.64 million) from West Ham last August, he never expressed an interest in playing for Mali nor said he would want to play in the African Nations Cup.

Spurs' acting manager David Pleat said on Tuesday: "Let me tell you that Kanoute is a gentleman, a Muslim and an honourable person.

"I do feel a bit aggrieved that we were not told about him using his Mali qualification when we signed him. We still thought he was French a few weeks ago when the France manager came to watch him play.

"The critical point and issue for us is that when Fredi signed we had no idea that he would want to play for Mali, and indeed, at that stage, the law did not exist permitting him to do so, nor was there any indication that this situation might change."