Despite being included in Sergio Batista's squad for the tournament, which gets under way on January 19, the 19-year-old attacker revealed he has not been given permission to play by Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

"Scolari already told me he will not let me go to the South American cup. He said there are too many injured forwards and he needs me here," Di Santo told TyC Sports.

"He explained to me he only has three strikers to count on, (Didier) Drogba, (Nicolas) Anelka and me. He wants me here."

However, Batista, who led the Argentina Under-23 side to Olympic gold in Beijing, is hoping FIFA will be sympathetic in their attempts to have Di Santo and Almeria striker Pablo Piatti released for the tournament.

"We have to be patient because they are two important players for us," he said.

"Julio (Grondona, Argentina FA president and FIFA vice president) is going to talk with FIFA and we expect to count on them."