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ARSENAL manager Arsene Wenger accused English soccer
chiefs of a double standard after Gunners’ striker Thierry
Henry was put under investigation for an elbowing incident
while Manchester United’s David Beckham was let off for a
similar offense.
The Football Association said Monday that no disciplinary
action would be taken against Beckham for elbowing Leeds’ Lee
Bowyer, but that Henry would face an inquiry for aiming an
elbow at Charlton’s John Robinson.
“You have eyes like I have,” Wenger said when asked about
the two decisions. “There’s something strange.”
Wenger described the Henry incident as “minor.”
“Thierry was pulled back on his shirt and shrugged the
guy off,” he said. “I’ve watched a few games over the weekend
and I’ve seen worse. They (FA) look to have some good
investigators every time Arsenal plays.”
The FA said it wouldn’t act against Beckham, the England
captain, because the referee had seen the incident and decided
not to book the player. But the FA said it would investigate
Henry because the referee had not seen that incident.
“It looks not logical,” Wenger said. “You can basically
kill somebody if the referee was not in a good position to see
it properly and you can still do nothing about it. So let’s
investigate the FA and see what comes out.”
Beckham made back-page headlines after elbowing Bowyer in
the face as they both went for the ball during Manchester
United’s 1-0 loss at Leeds on Saturday.
Referee Jeff Winter saw the incident but his only action
was to give a free kick to Leeds.
Newspapers and commentators suggested that Beckham should
have received at least a yellow card, and possibly red, noting
that Man United captain Roy Keane was sent off a week earlier
for elbowing Sunderland’s Jason McAteer in the head.
Robinson came to Henry’s defense and urged the FA to drop
its inquiry.
“There wasn’t anything in it. It was two players tussling
for the ball, “ Robinson said.(SD-Agencies)
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