Arsene Wenger accuses Chelsea star Eden Hazard of diving as he continues assault on referees

1/39
James Olley5 January 2018

​Arsene Wenger has defied a Football Association misconduct charge by continuing his verbal assault on referees and accusing Eden Hazard of diving in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea.

The Frenchman has opted to contest a charge relating to his conduct in the referee’s room following the Gunners’ 1-1 draw at West Brom on New Year’s Eve.

Wenger reacted furiously as Mike Dean awarded the Baggies an 89th-minute penalty for a handball by defender Calum Chambers and persevered with his condemnation of that decision and officiating in general during press conferences both before and after Wednesday’s match against the Blues at Emirates Stadium.

On Thursday, he was asked by the FA to explain those comments – the most controversial of which include accusing Dean of “seeing what he wanted to see” and that Arsenal have been on the wrong end of several decisions which is a “concerning coincidence”.

Yet Wenger showed no sign of backing down on Friday, instead choosing to go on the offensive once again over referee Anthony Taylor’s award of a spot-kick to Chelsea after Hazard fell theatrically under a challenge from Hector Bellerin. Arsenal were leading 1-0 at the time.

“First of all, yes I’ve been asked [to explain his public comments],” said Wenger. “I maintain what I said in the press conference, 100 per cent. I have nothing to change in that. Nothing has changed. I’ve been in England for 21 years and I’ve tried to serve this game with honesty, integrity and when I have something to say, I say it. On that front, nothing will change. Never.

“I respect everybody’s opinion but I think it was a yellow card for Hazard, 100 per cent. I have a right to have my opinion, and I respect everybody’s opinion.”

When it was put to Wenger that Jack Wilshere was fortunate to escape a second yellow card for simulation on the edge of Chelsea’s box in the second half, the Arsenal manager replied: “Yes, maybe he did but why should that change my opinion on the penalty? It’s got nothing to do with it. “Every situation is different and has to be assessed by the referee. After that, you have your opinion and I have mine. I’ve been in the game long enough to know that everybody can have a different opinion.

In Pictures | Konstantinos Mavropanos joins Arsenal | 04/01/2018

1/7

“At the end of the day, we always spend time talking about things that are not really important in the game. What we want is to see big football games, big players on the football pitch and you want them to be refereed by top-quality people. I think I’ve contributed a lot to give referees a great opportunity to be at their best because I’ve had a huge influence on whether they became professional or not.

“I believe I’ve had more influence on that and a positive one too. That’s why I can also be demanding and what I want from them is to be at the top. I’m quite surprised that that is shocking.

“You imagine that I’ve been in the game for 21 years, and what I’ve seen and heard in the corridors from people… you’ll understand that I’m quite surprised and shocked at being charged.”

Wenger told Standard Sport he is will not request a personal hearing and if the case is processed quickly with the 68-year-old found guilty, a ban could begin for Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie at Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal are set to rotate their starting line-up with Granit Xhaka joining a growing list of injury casualties due to a minor groin problem. Laurent Koscielny (Achilles), Sead Kolasinac, Nacho Monreal (both ankle), Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud (both hamstring) are all unavailable.

Wenger sought to move on from discussing the charge, dismissing Arsenal’s reported interest in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as “not a possibility” and insisting he wanted Theo Walcott to stay at the club this month despite reports linking him with a move back to former club Southampton.

However, he could not resist returning to the subject when discussing whether he will accept an invitation to attend George Weah’s inauguration as Liberia president.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in