Portsmouth striker Jermain Defoe has been denied the chance to face Tottenham this weekend due to Premier League rules over loan deals becoming permanent.
The 25-year-old moved from Spurs on the last day of the transfer window but the deal was rushed through as a loan before he signed as a Pompey player early in February.
The rules were changed at the Premier League AGM last summer following the situation that arose last season when Tim Howard made his loan from Manchester United to Everton a permanent deal.
The goalkeeper was a regular for Everton but did not play against United in April due to a gentleman's agreement, with Sir Alex Ferguson's men claiming maximum points after a mistake from reserve stopper Iain Turner.
It led to a vote to change the rules for the purposes of clarity.
"The rules are clear," said a Premier League spokesman. "A player who is taken on loan and then during the course of the transfer window, if that loan is made permanent, he is not allowed to play against the team who originally loaned him."
Although the vote was unanimous, Spurs and Pompey did not appear to publicly acknowledge Defoe's absence until the eve of the clash at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
A Portsmouth FC spokesman said: "Clearly we are not happy about the situation and were under the impression it only applied to goalkeepers, following a similar situation last year with Tim Howard playing for Everton against Manchester United.
"Jermain was only signed on a loan deal due to time restraints on transfer deadline day and the deal was made permanent soon after.
"Spurs themselves were under the impression he was playing and clearly the rule needs to be looked at again as we will not be the only club to be affected by this.
"We have tried to get the ruling overturned and have lots of support from the other Premier League clubs but nothing can be done until the next shareholders' meeting in April."
Pompey boss Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports News: "We took Jermain at the last minute so for us to get this through we had to it as a loan and then made it a full transfer after.
"It's a load of nonsense really, it's some silly rule and there's nothing we can do about it."
Defoe, who was named in the England squad for next week's friendly against France, has six goals in his first six appearances for his new team.
Despite an impressive goalscoring record for Spurs, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane were favoured for big matches by Martin Jol and then Juande Ramos when he took over as head coach earlier this season.
Chairman Daniel Levy was also concerned about losing the striker for nothing with his contract ran out at the end of next season, with fears he would leave in the same way as Sol Campbell did.
During his contract dispute, Defoe still enjoyed a positive relationship with Spurs fans and was tipped to receive a warm welcome on his return to White Hart Lane.
Ramos insisted he wanted Defoe to sign a new contract but was also aware the striker wanted regular first-team football.
"The situation came from the problem that we had four forwards of a magnificent level and one of them had to go," said Ramos. "But it is the same as any other team.
"For the contractual situation that he had it was him that went as he wasn't prepared to sign another contract.
"It was the decision that he made. I always wanted players to be happy but he decided that he wanted to leave as he wanted to play more and I respect that."
