Wenger: Stop lying

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Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
25 Feb	3:00 PM	LC	Chelsea (N)	1	2	Lost

Arsène Wenger has accused one of the Carling Cup final linesman of lying in his report to the Football Association.

The linesman in question alleged that Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor had punched Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, resulting in Adebayor's dismissal from the field of play.

Wenger said: "I don't agree with the FA's compliance committee.

"And I don't agree with the report of the linesman because, for me, he lies. Adebayor didn't punch anybody. So when the linesman says he punches someone, he lies.

"I would like you to ask Lampard if he was punched. And I want him to say the truth. If it is 'yes', we will accept it. But we have watched it on microscope and, if you can see Adebayor punching Lampard, I would like you to show me.

"It's strange, a real coincidence, that 20 men have a brawl and only Arsenal's players are guilty.

"It's unbelievable. When you look at who has been charged it really is difficult to accept.

"We have lost players [through suspension] for three or four games and Adebayor would definitely have played for us against Blackburn if he were available.

"Maybe the FA have their own way of doing justice. They have a very selective view."

Asked if he thought the FA did not want to punish Lampard because he was English, Wenger replied: "You conclude what you want."

User Comments

Sean Whitehead

Posted on 2 Mar, 2007 at 12:17 PM - Reply

I am writing regarding the Arsenal Chelsea Carling Cup fall-out. I think the officials got it wrong. Everyone who got their caution/sending-off deserved them apart from Adebayor. Initially it was alleged he had struck Wayne Bridge, and Wayne apparently said it was Eboue. Then the story has changed a few times. What I wish to point out is when Eboue & Bridge fell down it was right in front of the linesman, & after the ref had finished issuing cards out the linesman went over to him and had a brief chat with the ref, after which the ref then showed Adebayor a red card. So are we to assume the linesman, having witnessed Eboue striking Bridge in front of him, went over to the ref to point out Adebayor had come in aggressively, and didn't mention the Eboue-Bridge incident, which had only been a few seconds earlier in his face? It becomes obvious that when the ref turned around and saw Wayne receiving treatment he asked his linesman if he had seen anything, to which the linesman must have said he did, and pointed out Adebayor instead of Eboue. What happend after that is history, but the officials should admit they initially thought it was Adebayor who was guilt of that, otherwise how can they explain sending Adebayor off & leaving Eboue on? They cant argue they missed it because it was right in the linesman's face. On a different note Drogba also slapped Fabregas at the back of his head when things appeared to be simmering down, and Ricardo Carvallho grabbed Hoyte by the face and shoved him backwards, in case they missed all that too. It shows clearly on video, so its hard to understand why its not been brought up. I think after what happened to Italian football before the world cup we need to be seen to be dealing with these kind of things in an impartial manner, or people might start questioning the integrity of the match officials.

Rain Dance

Posted on 1 Mar, 2007 at 10:34 AM - Reply

Let me guess, the price that Wenger gets for telling the truth and sticking up to his players will be a generous fine

gunninginsydney

Posted on 1 Mar, 2007 at 09:29 AM - Reply

dont worry about what happened with the verdicts, if any non english player dived like bridge did for chelsea, then every paper would be talking about it. but hey he's british, we'll let it go and concentrate on toure/adebayors pushes (punches, so the linesman said)

Sue

Posted on 1 Mar, 2007 at 09:10 AM - Reply

Well he is right. If Adebayor didnt punch Lampard then its simple the linesman lied whats so hard about that.

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