Geneva: Fifa declined to comment on Monday on the specifics of the row between Chelsea and France over Claude Makelele, but underlined that any player is allowed to retire from international football.

“The general situation is that any player is free to decide that he is not playing for his national team,” said Andreas Herren, a spokesman for football’s governing body.

“There is no Fifa rule to prevent any player stopping his international career, that’s up to him,” he said. “The one thing that has to be considered is that the intention to leave a national team or put an end to an international career needs to be communicated prior to a specific summons.”