Hamdan Al Kamali's hopes of playing for Lyon, the French Ligue 1 club, has cost him his place in the UAE Olympic team.
The 22-year-old national team and Al Wahda defender was dropped following a meeting at the Football Association headquarters in Dubai last night.
Mahdi Ali's team will leave for Saudi Arabia on Wedbesday night for a training camp and a friendly against the Saudi national team on January 26. They will fly to Bahrain for a second friendly four days later before heading for Qatar for a crucial Olympic qualifier against Iraq on February 5.
Al Kamali, the Olympic team captain, had requested time off from the team to travel to France for talks with Lyon and then join the squad in time for their friendly in Saudi Arabia, but the FA decided to drop him.
Al Kamali has been adamant he wants a move to France despite his club saying "the offer was not serious" and "Hamdan is not leaving".
Wahda officials were not available for comment last night. The UAE are at the bottom of Group B on two points after three Olympic qualifying games.
Meanwhile, Omar Abdulrahman, the Al Ain playmaker, has returned to action nearly six months after knee surgery.
Cosmin Olaroiu, the coach, watched Abdulrahman play for 20 minutes in a reserve team victory over Ajman, but was guarded against scheduling a possible return to the first team.
"We should give him time so he can get ready again," the Romanian said. "He was off for six months and he needs more time to get ready for good appearance as we used to see him."
