Following his criticism of the match officials after his team’s exit from the Champions League, Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has been charged with improper conduct by UEFA.
After their 3-0 victory over AC Milan on Tuesday, which fell short of overcoming the Italians’ 4-0 first-leg advantage, Wenger expressed his dissatisfaction with the referee.
On Wednesday, a UEFA statement indicated, “A disciplinary case has been opened against Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for improper conduct regarding last night’s second-leg match of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 against AC Milan in London.”
The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body is set to address the case on March 29.
In his post-match comments, Wenger condemned referee Skomina, claiming he made too many favorable decisions for the visitors from Italy.
Wenger remarked, “I was unhappy with the referee this evening as I believed he awarded numerous free-kicks in the midfield.”
He added, “Each time they went down, a free-kick was given for them, and they quickly realized this and exploited it well.”
This incident could mark Wenger’s third ban within a year; UEFA previously imposed a one-match touchline ban for his outburst directed at referee Massimo Busacca after his team’s last-16 exit to Barcelona last year.
Wenger was particularly upset with the sending off of Robin van Persie by the Swiss referee.
Subsequently, he received an additional two-match touchline suspension for breaching his Barcelona ban by contacting the Arsenal bench from the stands during the Gunners’ play-off match against Udinese earlier this season.
On Tuesday, the Gunners triumphed over Milan with a stunning first-half display featuring goals from Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky, and Van Persie, finishing the match 3-0.
However, after the break, they could not maintain their momentum and ultimately exited with a 4-3 aggregate score following their heavy defeat at the San Siro in the first leg.
by Buford Balony
