Football: Wenger defends Shearer

THE Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, fears the FA are going down the wrong path after they decided to put Alan Shearer on trial by television.

The England captain has been charged after television showed him apparently kicking the Leicester player Neil Lennon in the face in a match two weeks ago - an incident missed at the time by the referee Martin Bodenham.

"It seems to be that players now are only being punished for what they do wrong because it has appeared on live television," said Wenger. "In my view, video evidence does nothing to improve the quality of refereeing. Rather than the tapes, I would like to see two referees in every match and then there is a better chance that their authority will not be undermined."

The Manchester United chairman, Martin Edwards, believes Arsenal should be England's lone representatives in the Champions' League next season.

"It's a disappointment for me that runners-up are involved because it devalues the competition, but if you are asking me if I am going to run away from it, then the answer is `No'," Edwards said.