Newcastle manager Alan Pardew insists the club had no choice but to deny striker Papiss Cisse a place in Senegal's Olympic squad.
We had to make a call for his own health, says Newcastle boss
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew insists the club had no choice but to deny Papiss Cisse a place in Senegal's Olympic squad.
The Senegal Football Federation had wanted to include the striker, who scored 13 goals for Newcastle in 14 games last season, among their squad for this summer's tournament.
But the Magpies have put their foot down to prevent their £10million January signing heading off on international duty once again following his African Nations Cup duty earlier this year.
Pardew said: "It was more the owners, really, who have to pay the guy's money.
"He had a full first half in Germany, he had the African Nations Cup, he had the second half of the season in his first year in the Premier League.
"He then had qualifying games, they want him again for the African Nations and they wanted him for the Olympics, and that was stretching it a little bit.
"As much as I feel for Papiss, because I am sure he would have wanted to play - he's not back yet, he's due back later this week - we have to make a call for his own health.
"I am sure he has got pressure from within the country for him to play and we have to release that pressure for him because physically, he couldn't do that. It's impossible."
Reliant
Newcastle could be highly reliant on the 27-year-old next season having seen Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands leave the club while missing out on Twente's Luuk de Jong.
Pardew is looking to build on an impressive fifth-place finish in the last campaign and jokingly revealed the demands of owner Mike Ashley are escalating fast.
"Mike's suggestion is we should win it, and with less money, so that's a bit tricky," he added.
"Look, we had a great season - I think our fans are realistic enough to know that we had a fabulous season last year.
"I met a lot of them on my travels on holiday, in the city or whatever, and they were all very pleased with last year.
"People keep telling me that their expectations are going to go through the roof and they are expecting us to improve or get the same.
Realistic
"I don't see that. I think they are realistic enough to know that until a team breaks into the Champions League, it's very, very difficult to compete with those top four or five clubs.
"Obviously, that's what we are going to try to do, but it's difficult.
"When we consider we finished fifth, the next jump is considerable to get into that top four.
"We got to past Chelsea and Liverpool, which was a fantastic achievement, but we still didn't make the top four."
Pardew and those of his players who are back in training have faced a late change to their pre-season plans after the Vodacom Challenge tournament in South Africa was cancelled.
They will open their pre-season campaign in Germany on Friday against Chemnitzer before facing Monaco, with a third fixture against Fenerbahce yet to be finalised.
The Magpies are also due to fly to Portugal to take part in the Guadiana Torneo along with Braga and Olympiakos later in the month.
