Should players be punished for using the F-word towards officials?

ARSENE WENGER says players should not be punished for f-word abuse of officials.

By ANDREW DILLON
thesun.co.uk

LOUD AND PROUD ... Gunners boss Wenger

The Arsenal manager yesterday launched his astonishing defence of skipper Cesc Fabregas after his tunnel blow-up on Tuesday.

Fabregas had angrily accused Everton players of paying referee Lee Mason.

Wenger said: "Take the 20 captains of the Premier League and then try to convince me that not one of them says something to a referee for the whole team.

"You have people who say 'f*** off' to the referee in front of the camera and it doesn't shock anybody. It doesn't shock you.

"You now have the example of Gary Neville who has retired - fantastic player, fantastic career. You think he has never talked in the tunnel?

"You have to be normal and to have a little bit of tolerance as well with what is happening in the tunnel.

"I would like the media to talk about what is really important in football. What is important to people is that the right decisions are made on the football pitch.

"When I go on Sunday for a walk, I see football played in the park. If you record what is said there, you can make an article every day in every newspaper for everybody who is on the football pitch.

"It's part of football as well to be a little bit free to talk. 'Come on, what the f*** have you done there, give me the ball?' It's part of football.

"One of the problems of the modern game is that the media picks out one incident of the game but for me this incident is minor and then you have to speak about this for days and days, something which didn't influence the result of the game.

"What influenced the result of the game was that the goal was offside."

He added: "It doesn't affect Cesc. It is a minor incident. The only thing that affects Cesc is 'Can we win the next game?'

"I'm always suprised that we do not pick up on people who run behind him and just kick him.

"They get away with it and he is accused of something, which cannot be right if you love football.

"He gets a rough ride in every single game."

Wenger does not give a hoot about the storm over Fabregas's latest scrape.

He said: "People are much more intelligent than you think.

"They watch what happens on the football pitch. Do they like it? Yes or no I can accept that.

"But you do not cheat people. Do you really think a guy in a village in India will not like Arsenal anymore because David Moyes said Cesc Fabregas is supposed to have said something to the referee?

read the entire story