Carlos Tevez did not refuse to play says Kia Joorabchian

Carlos Tevez's advisor has insisted the striker did not refuse to play for Manchester City - and claimed that post-match comments by the player suggesting he had done so were mistranslated by a club interpreter.

Kia Joorabchian said the Argentina striker always went out of his way to play - even when injured. He also contrasted City manager Roberto Mancini's "very direct" style with that of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and claimed a number of top Premier League stars had "refused to play" in the summer.

Tevez is currently serving a two-week suspension pending a club investigation that he allegedly disobeyed Mancini's instructions during last week's Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich. Tevez's initial post-match comment was translated by a City employee as: "I did not feel right to play so I did not."

Joorabchian told the Leaders in Football conference: "One of the biggest problems is that in a situation right after a game questions are asked and things are taken out of context.

"If you don't have a very professional interpreter you have a problem. The interpretation was incorrect. Both questions and both answers from Carlos were interpreted incorrectly."

Sky News have since had the interview interpreted independently, but in their translation Tevez still appears to confirm he decided not to play.

That translation states Tevez saying: "It's just that I didn't want to go in because I thought I was unwell. I wasn't emotionally well, and I thought it better not to. I felt that it wasn't suitable that I go on because my head wasn't in the right place."

Joorabchian claimed several Premier League stars had refused to play for clubs during the summer but their managers handled the situation differently.

He said: "This is a personal relationship between two people. We have seen this happen all through the summer.

"We have seen [Cesc] Fabregas, [Samir] Nasri and [Luka] Modric - the list goes on - but they are the high-profile names who have handed in transfer requests, refused to travel, refused to play. That is a problem in general.

"My opinion is they refused to play in a different way and those managers and the clubs handled them very differently.

"Roberto has his style of management and it is very direct and very different to Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Carlo Ancelotti."

Joorabchian said TV pictures showed the situation on the bench in Munich to be confused, with a row between City boss Roberto Mancini and striker Edin Dzeko, who was angry at having been substituted.

He said: "What happened on the bench in Munich was one of a lot of confusion as shown on the TV footage. The events of Munich have been judged prior to the real outcome coming out.

"We see Nigel de Jong going on and Carlos still warming up and a God-awful row between Roberto Mancini and Edin Dzeko. You see this row carrying on and Carlos sits down. Carlos then stands up, there's more shouting and he sits back down. The next thing we hear is what Roberto says.

"I have known Carlos since he was an 18-year-old and you cannot criticise his commitment in terms of wanting to play.

"He has played at Manchester City having taken injections, with swollen ankles. He played at Corinthians where doctors have told him not to play.

"Carlos throughout his career is one that fights to play. If there is an issue it's because he is so eager to play."

Joorabchian said Tevez was had been committed to City as he had joined at the start of the club's "new vision".

He added: "Carlos joined Manchester City when he had official offers from Real Madrid and Manchester United on the table at end of May [2009]. He was one of first players to join Manchester City's new vision.

"It's a great vision. Carlos was brought in to help and start that vision. When they didn't qualify for the Champions League at the end of his first season he took that very personally."

Joorabchian also refused to speculate on Tevez's future.

He said: "I cannot predict what Carlos wants to do. He has been clearly judged and condemned before the case has been fully looked into. I think the club and Carlos are in a very difficult position."

PA