Arsene Wenger facing another FA charge after comments made before and after Arsenal's draw with Chelsea
The Frenchman has been asked to explain his comments from pre- and post-match press conferences around the 2-2 draw with Chelsea
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Arsene Wenger is facing yet another Football Association charge after the FA “requested observations” from the Arsenal manager over comments made in his pre- and post-match press conferences against Chelsea.
Wenger is already facing an FA charge from the weekend after his criticisms of the decision of referee Mike Dean to award West Bromwich Albion a late penalty in the 1-1 draw and now has been contacted not only over Wednesday night’s post-match game, but also Tuesday’s pre-match press conference.
Wednesday's post-match affair descended into wild conspiracy theory, with Wenger turning on the press and accusing them of "not defending football".
In a statement, the FA said: “The FA has requested observations from Arsene Wenger for media comments he made on Tuesday [02/01/18] and after last night’s Arsenal versus Chelsea match [03/01/18]. He has until 6pm on Tuesday 9 January to respond.”
The comments in question refer to his Tuesday press conference, where he said: “It was very disappointing in the way it happened. I must say what is more frustrating for me is that it happened many times this season – at Stoke, at Watford, at Manchester City, at West Brom.
“That is a concerning coincidence for me. That’s why I was not happy at all with the movement that the referee made to show why he gave the penalty, because that didn’t correspond at all with what happened. On that front, it’s a bit worrying.
“No, he saw what he wanted to see and we have to deal with that. We have to put that behind us and focus on our next game, not dwell on it.”
He then, referring to the penalty his side conceded against Chelsea on Wednesday night, he told Sky Sports: “Yeah of course it’s all opinions, if you are on one side it’s opinions, if you are on the other side it’s opinions. But when opinions always go the same way it’s coincidence. Statistically it’s built on the fact that when it’s repeated it’s not coincidence.
Then, during post-match press conference, he added: “We got again a farcical decision on the penalty but we knew that as well before so we have to deal with that…”
As he is already being charged with the comments from the West Brom game, there is a possibility that Wenger could face a touchline ban as a consequence of the FA’s latest correspondence with him.
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