Arsenal v CSKA Moscow: Arsène Wenger has railed against the "stupidity" of football's governors in their refusal to authorise the introduction of video technology to the elite game.

The Arsenal manager's impassioned argument was born of the indignation that still simmers from his side's 1-0 Champions League defeat to CSKA Moscow a fortnight ago. Yesterday, on the eve of the return fixture at the Emirates Stadium, Wenger remained incensed at the decision by Spanish referee Mejuto Gonzalez to rule out for handball a legitimate equaliser by Thierry Henry, who was further enraged by a caution for the incident.

"I can understand Thierry's frustration over what happened in Moscow," said Wenger. "Frankly, it is difficult enough to score goals, and on top of that it is cancelled, and on top of that you get a yellow card. It is not easy to take."

Wenger reasons that since modern stadiums are equipped with the apparatus to ensure fast and accurate replays of controversial incidents, football should utilise the technology. He is a keen student of the sport and his experience as a pundit for French television at successive World Cups has taught him that broadcast technology can have new applications.

"In France they have created a system on television where they can see 100 per cent if the ball crossed the line," he said. "Technologically it is easy to do now. Suddenly we have a situation where everyone but the referee can see the ball is over the line.

"One man has not seen it so the world has to accept it. You can add three or more linesmen and it won't change anything, but you can add nobody and check if the ball is over the line or not. But if there are situations where you are sure that if you look at a video you see if it is in or not in, why do we refuse to use that? It is not stubbornness, it is stupidity."

Although it might seem that the goal-line innovation would have done nothing to prevent the yellow card for Henry, Wenger believes that TV technology can also be accommodated effectively in such circumstances.

"The second problem is in situations where you can never be sure, like whether it is a penalty or not," he said. "In some you can look at the video 10 times and one will say 'yes' and one will say 'no'. You can leave this kind of decision to one man.

"In tennis, players have the right to challenge the umpire twice in each set. If he asks for one and it is right, he keeps the challenge. If wrong, he loses it. It looks fair to me. In Moscow I'd have said 'I use my challenge there', and with five minutes to go I would have been happy to lose it.

"I feel there are some sports that go with modern time and some that stubbornly refuse. No one has given me an explanation. To say to me it was done like that in 1920 is not good enough, it is as simple as that."

Despite the controversy, Wenger takes his team into tonight's game confident of victory, a result that would take Arsenal two points clear in Group G with two matches to play. He hopes that Moscow will play a more open game than that which Everton brought on Saturday, although injury to the Brazilian strikers Jo and Vagner Love may encourage them to emulate the Merseysiders.

"When you love football you have to be more determined to punish these teams," he said. "That is to score first. If you score first, they come out. The problems we have had at home are when we did not score first."

Guardian Service