Arsene Wenger has said he intends to contest his FA charge, and doesn’t regret his comments made at referee Mike Dean.
Wenger was charged by the FA following his comments to Dean after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with West Brom. After being accused of using abusive language and behaviour in the match official’s dressing room, the Arsenal manager plans on contesting his charge.
“100 per cent. You can listen to every interview I said, and I stick to everything I said without any problem,” he said, as reported by Arsenal.com. “I am 35 years in football, I know what I say after the game and I stand up for what I said. No problem.”
Wenger has found himself questioning the referees again after the 2-2 with Chelsea. Anthony Taylor awarded Chelsea a penalty for a foul on Eden Hazard not long after Arsenal had taken the lead.
The manager wasn’t happy with the decision, and is disappointed that it’s taking away from an entertaining night of football.
“Look, what I find terrible is that we have just seen is a great football game and we talk only about things that are nothing to do with football,” he said.
“At some stage, you stand up in the morning and you say ‘we have seen a great football game’ but you are not interested in that. For me, that would be nice, that at some stage we speak about football again. What are we talking about? It’s nothing to do with football.”
Given the amount of protection referees are afforded, Wenger feels he has little choice but to accept their decisions. However, he remains convinced that a number of calls have gone against his side recently.
“That’s what I do. I have no choice. But you have to say as well that at some stage in football, you have to stand up for the referee’s decisions. But you have to say as well that at the moment, we have to face surprising decisions.”
With the way Wenger’s going, he will likely end up with a touchline or stadium ban. From his view, his side have been have lost out on four extra points because of the referee. His comments also have the convenient effect of distracting from side’s failings.
We’ll see how many games the FA decide to ban him for.