Arsene Wenger refuses to back down in his battle with the English Football Association over the punishment given to Emmanuel Adebayor. The Arsenal striker has been banned for three games after his red card following the brawl in the League Cup final defeat by Chelsea last weekend.
Wenger is adamant Adebayor is innocent and the linesman, who claimed the player attempted to strike Chelsea's Frank Lampard, got his verdict wrong.
He said: "I can say what I think. They can put me up on the wall and shoot me down but it still doesn't make that decision right. If they don't like my words they don't like it.
"The club has, in this case, been treated with disrespect and deserves much better than that. I don't accept it. They can say what they want about me but that decision is completely wrong and I can prove it. With professional (television) editors we can show that image by image Adebayor never intended to throw any punch. It is as simple as that and it is obvious.
"It was the linesman who said Adebayor should have been sent off and that is where it started for us. Not only did he not intend to throw any punch, but he tried to separate people who were around Lampard. I say what I feel is right. If they don't like my words they don't like it. I will never change. Would you like to see me with a dictionary after the game and think 'oh no, that's a little bit too strong, what's the synonym of that word because I could be punished by the FA?'"
Wenger says the evidence is there for everyone to see when the replays are shown on television. He also questioned the treatment of his side by officials in general. "I don't want to say they have got it in for us, but if that is the case it is not worth talking about. The only thing I will say is that the numbers are there. We are the team which commits the fewest fouls against our opponents, and we are the team that gets punished more.
"For every five fouls we get a yellow card. There are some teams who only get a yellow card every 12 fouls so we must be very clumsy. We played the other night at Blackburn and lost the game. But Blackburn committed 30 fouls. (Morten Gamst) Pedersen does (Emmanuel) Eboue on purpose, he gets away without a yellow card and nobody says a word. But if somebody (from my team) pushed somebody else with one hand the whole country is shocked. I call that Sky Sports News justice."
Following their defeat against Chelsea and their FA Cup loss to Blackburn, Arsenal's chances of a trophy this season could come to an end if they lose to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday. But Wenger refuses to hide behind the League Cup loss.
"It is not a smokescreen because we do not deny we are out of the FA Cup. We had a reasonable run in the Carling Cup and reasonable games, even in the final. You cannot say we've gained any advantage from referee decisions. The linesman who didn't see (Didier) Drogba offside (when he scored) ruled against Adebayor, so you cannot say there has been a big advantage for us in this Carling Cup final. We are strong enough to focus on what is important."
Chelsea have admitted to an English FA charge of failing to control their players and/or officials in the League Cup final. The London side have asked for a hearing to answer the charge, which was also laid against Arsenal.
Guardian Service
