By Andrew Warshaw at the Leaders in Football Conference in London
October 5 – The advisor of Carlos Tevez insisted today that the Argentine and Manchester City striker did not refuse to play against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and that post-match comments by the player were mistranslated by a club interpreter.
Kia Joorabchian (pictured left) told the Leaders in Football conference here that Tevez, who cost City around £45 million ($69 million/€53 million), would never deliberately opt not to take the field.
Tevez is currently serving a two-week suspension pending a club investigation that he disobeyed manager Roberto Mancini’s instructions to come off the bench in Munich, where the Manchester outfit lost 2-0
Tevez was reported to have said that he “did not feel right to play so I did not.”
But speaking here at the conference in London, Joorabchian said: “One of the biggest problems is that in a situation right after a game questions are asked and things are taken out of context.
“If you don’t have a very professional interpreter you have a problem.
“The interpretation was incorrect.
“Both questions and both answers from Carlos were interpreted incorrectly.
“This is a personal relationship between two people.
“We have seen this happen all through the summer.
“I have known Carlos since he was an 18-year-old and you cannot criticise his commitment in terms of wanting to play.
“He has played at Manchester City having taken injections, with swollen ankles.
“He played at Corinthians where doctors have told him not to play.
“Carlos throughout his career is one that fights to play.
“If there is an issue it’s because he is so eager to play.”
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