Arsene Wenger is not a happy bunny. Upon hearing the news about UEFA’s decision to charge Eduardo for diving in the recent Champions League qualifier victory over Celtic, the Arsenal boss said that it was a ‘complete disgrace and unacceptable’.
To be honest, you can’t blame Wenger for having these views. It’s not as if Eduardo is the first player to make more out of a challenge than he should have done is it? Imagine how many times Cristiano Ronaldo should have been charged if this was the norm!
Continuing to speak about his disapproval with the decision, Wenger said that this has ‘singled out a player to be a cheat’, something which is ‘not acceptable’. He went on to say that it is the first time in football where the judgment of the referee has been deemed as accepted by the football bodies.
This is very true. When do you ever hear of this? When has a player ever been charged for diving? The official line is that Eduardo has been punished for ‘going down with intent’, but how can this be proved?
Fair enough, it probably wasn’t a penalty, but can it be proved that Eduardo dived with the intention of cheating? There have been far more blatant dives in football over the last few years, so why has this one been singled out? It makes no sense to me and seems a very strange decision.
One of Wenger’s final points (he talked about it for a while!) was that the case has been ‘ruled emotionally’ by the Scottish FA and the Scottish people who work for UEFA. Overall, the Frenchman is bewildered by the fact that ‘the existing rules of football have been changed for just one case’.
The next development in this story is that Eduardo could be banned for two European games when the disciplinary body meets next week. This means that there is every chance he could miss the games against Standard Liege and Olympiacos.
Does he deserve this though? What are your thoughts?
As always, let me know.
ArseSpeak 
Eduardo definitely doesn’t deserve this. If every player was punished for diving then MAYBE it would be acceptable for Eduardo to face a two-match band, but the way things are shaping up, it’s absolutely ridiculous. They’re making it look like he invented diving. Borderline stupid.
If it happens lets hope it will not work only on Arsenal players may be its because Croatia is preparing to pray with England
This is the most stupid decision I have ever heard in football circles. Is UEFA trying to say Ovrebo decived Chelsea football club by blatantly denied them clear spot kicks? Can UEFA tell us what they did with that ref who gave Henry a yellow card and denied us (arsenal) a credible goal in Russia? This is another case of premature ejaculation.
UEFA must be partial if they sanction Eduardo, bcos they have to first of all punish d refere 4 making/taking a wrong decision. Apart 4rm dat dere has been law dat states dat a player dat dives must be sanctioned, Uefa has to make a law b4 punishing a player.
i’ll keep on saying over and over again, fcuk UEFA and its President Michael Platini. over da years i grow up 2b a great admirer of this French Legend but in recent times da love and admiration i had 4 him is slowly going down da drains because of his irrational n myopic decisions on issues concerning da beautiful game of football. 2 all da GUNNER faithfuls, i love you,my heart is always with u. 1luv 2u all. we’ll be popping our champagne come 2morro at da OLD TRAFFORD where we’ll turn it 2 NEW TRAFFORD. I LOVE YOU, Daddy WENGER.
yes it was 100% a dive by Eduardo. However, reviewing and giving him a 2 match suspension is ridiculous. I understand where Wenger is coming form and dont blame Eduardo for going downa bit easier these days.
Then we fast forward to the weekend and United get a brutal penalty decision when the Rooney fell over Almunia when the ball was already out of play. Not doing well on the decisions these days.
DM
Eduardo dived and should be punished BUT its always gonna be a bit harsh on the first player to be punished. A precedent had not been set for this as far as i know. 2 games is far too much. Eboue dived on Saturday and got a yellow card, not a 2 game ban. We need consistency of punishment.
On an unrelated note Wengers whinge about Fletcher was embarrassing. Yes Arsene, tackling is allowed in football. Get over it. Fletch didn’t have one nasty challenge all game. Tackling isn’t anti football, its a part of the game.