At last week’s annual Elite Club Coaches Forum, UEFA General Secretary David Taylor attempted to explain to manager Arsène Wenger the reasoning behind the governing body’s persecution of Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva for deception.
Wenger had previously implied that unless UEFA’s video panel consisted of mind-readers, it was impossible to determine what Eduardo was intending to do when he tumbled over the challenge from Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc.
But what has confused the footballing world even further is that UEFA would not be seeking to review contentious decisions going forward, making a special case for Eduardo.
Eduardo was charged for ‘deceiving the referee’ in order to help his team gain a competitive advantage in a match.
Taylor explained: "There’s a clear difference of opinion [between me and Wenger].
“We believe this was something that infringed the regulations and there was an obvious intent to deceive the referee.
"But we won’t be implementing this for every incident or foul on the pitch. There has to be significant detriment to the opposing team.
“We are not talking throw-ins, corners kicks, things happening elsewhere on the pitch.
“We’re talking about things like the sending-off of players, or penalties which are scored where the other team suffers significant disadvantage."
Arsenal have appealed the decision to ban Eduardo for two matches, citing inconsistencies in the governing body’s decision-making process.
A statement from the club said: “We strongly believe that the decision taken is deeply flawed and not based on any forensic review of the video evidence available.
“There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in UEFA’s judgment and we intend to appeal.”
If the ban is upheld, Eduardo will miss the first two Champions League matches [against Standard Liege (A) and Olympiakos (H)].