English Premier League/ Manchester Utd v Arsenal:ARSENE WENGER has warned of looming chaos in the European game as he digested what he described as the "complete disgrace" of Uefa's decision to charge his striker Eduardo with cheating.
The Arsenal manager, who claimed that the governing body had conducted a “witch-hunt” against the Croatian international, effectively accused Uefa of double standards and hypocrisy. He also suggested there would not have been such an inquest had the player been English.
Eduardo was awarded a penalty in the Champions League play-off against Celtic on Wednesday, after he went down as the goalkeeper Artur Boruc came out to meet him. Television replays showed that there had been hardly any contact.
Although the referee, Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez, has seemingly stood by his decision, Uefa has studied the video footage and concluded that Eduardo has a charge of “deceiving the referee” to answer. If proven Eduardo could be banned for two European matches. Arsenal have pledged to fight the charge.
“This is the first time since I have been in football that a situation has been judged and assessed by the referee, and not been accepted by the football bodies,” said Wenger. “Normally, a situation that has been assessed and judged by the referee cannot be touched again so they (Uefa) open a door here. It means every single decision made and seen by a referee can, from now on, be challenged. They open a very dangerous door. The rules of football have been changed just for this case.”
Wenger was asked whether the case had shown that the referee’s decision was no longer final. “Yes, it has shown that,” he said, “and this is dangerous in that any club, in any big game, can challenge the decision of the referee.”
Wenger and Arsenal feel “victimised”. “It is a witch-hunt, what else is it?” he said. “If you take all the games in Europe every week, I will give you 10 cases where Uefa can charge a player. Do you charge every defender who tries to cheat the referee? How many defenders pull the shirt of a striker? It’s not allowed, it is trying to cheat the referee. Why are they not charged? Do you want me to take situations from the Celtic game? It was on both sides.
“You can break the legs of players and it doesn’t make a debate, but this case has been treated all over the world like Eduardo has killed somebody. We have been victims of dives from some players in England, who were English, who were never treated like this. The media have to treat every case exactly the same. I’ve fought my whole life against cheating and I have seen some obvious cases where Uefa didn’t intervene.”
Wenger considers it a bitter irony at best that Uefa has resisted the calls for video replay technology to assist referees, but have now used it retrospectively to condemn Eduardo. “They deny completely video evidence, but to charge our player, apparently they use video evidence,” he said. “Where is the logic?
“In this case, they don’t judge ‘Is it a penalty or not?’ They’re judging whether Eduardo is a cheat or not ... whether he went down with intent. I wish you good luck to prove that, having seen the pictures again. It is not conclusive.
“This case has been ruled by the media and, emotionally, by the Scottish FA. Scottish people are working at Uefa and this case is more sensitive because they have more influence there.”
Arsenal head to Old Trafford without skipper Cesc Fabregas, who failed a fitness test on his hamstring injury yesterday. United manager Alex Ferguson must decide whether to make changes, knowing Michael Carrick and Anderson will be desperate to make an impact after missing last week’s five-goal rout of Wigan.
Guardian Service
