Arsene Wenger risks Uefa charge after calling referee Martin
Hansson 'incompetent'
Arsène Wenger widened his attack on Martin Hansson last
night as he challenged Uefa to be more transparent in its
appointment of referees.
The Arsenal manager proposed the introduction of a published
rankings system for officials, but he could be charged by European
football’s governing body for labelling the Swedish referee
“incompetent”.
Hansson helped to tee up a quick indirect free kick for Porto to
score their winning goal in the Champions League round of 16
first-leg tie on Wednesday, the latest entry in a catalogue of poor
decisions that Wenger said he has witnessed as a manager.
“I believe that he is incompetent or dishonest,” Wenger said. “I
prefer to believe that he is incompetent.” Wenger did not question
the integrity of Hansson but he wants Uefa to begin a debate about
officials.
“A lot of things have to be clarified at Uefa,” Wenger said.
“First, how they nominate referees for games. They need to be more
open how they rate the referees. No one knows how and why they name
them. Where is the ranking of referees? Too much has gone on in the
history of refereeing in Europe in the past 30 years [that] is not
very good for football. A lot of things have to be done.”
Briefly changing tack from inept refereeing to a subject with
more sinister undertones, Wenger made an apparent reference to
being the victim of corruption in the past.
“I have seen much worse [than bad officials] in my life — my own
players were bought by the opponent,” he said. However, Wenger did
not elaborate or give any details about the clubs to which he was
referring.
He was a victim of a scandal in the early Nineties when in
charge of Monaco. They finished runners-up to Marseilles three
times in the French League. Marseilles were found to have offered
bribes to Valenciennes players in 1993 but there is no suggestion
that Monaco’s players were bribed.
“I do not want to come out on the past,” he said. “In my job,
you always have reasons to become paranoid, so I do not want to go
the way to think that people are not honest.”
Wenger will believe that his team can overcome the 2-1 deficit
against Porto at home on March 9, but that did not stop him
consulting several other referees about Hansson’s application of
the laws. Wenger was told by them that five technical mistakes were
made by Hansson. “He did not give the free kick at the point where
it happened,” Wenger said. “He did not stand in the right position.
He did not put the players at the proper distance. Then he should
not have given a quick free kick once he is in the middle of the
action. He didn’t raise his arm [for an indirect free kick] until
it was too late. It is ridiculous.”
Arsenal play Sunderland at the Emirates today and Manuel
Almunia, the goalkeeper, returns to the squad after injury. Wenger
said that the need to gain ground on the top two means that he
cannot rest Cesc Fàbregas.“I am worried. Cesc is under a lot of
pressure for such a young boy. He should be normally living in the
shadow of the experienced players,” he said.