November 24 – Arsenal’s French manager Arsene Wenger has pointed the finger squarely at Uefa in his latest outburst over doping in football.
Last week, in the wake of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) bombshell revelations about doping in Russian athletics, Wenger suggested that many opponents, both past and present, might have used performance- enhancing drugs and that while all the teams he has coached have been clean, the same could not be said for some of their adversaries.
His remarks caused widespread reaction but he now has poured more fuel on the flames by criticising Uefa, saying current rules “basically accept doping”.
Wenger’s anger stems from Dinamo Zagreb’s Arijan Ademi being banned for four years for failing a test after his side’s Champions League win over Arsenal in September. Ademi played the full 90 minutes and the teams meet again tonight with Wenger’s side knowing they must win to stand any chance of advancing beyond the group stage.
Under UEFA rules, there is no way of disqualifying a team from continental competition unless more than two players fail a test. Wenger wants the rules changed but feels he is unlikely to receive much public support after seeing UEFA’s doping team visit Arsenal’s training ground shortly after his recent comments.
Asked if he found the regulations strange, Wenger said: “Yes, of course. It’s a surprising rule. UEFA applies the rule that is planned but I personally don’t agree with the rule. You cannot say that they had a doped player but the result stands. That means you basically accept doping. But it is the rule and we accept that. We have to look at ourselves and deal with our own performance.”
Wales were left fuming after the same ruling saw them miss out on a place at Euro 2004. Russia’s Yegor Titov failed a drugs test after the first leg of a qualification play-off, in which he was an unused substitute, before he played a part in the second leg. UEFA stated at the time that, because only one squad member had recorded a positive result, it was the player and not the team who was liable.
A Uefa spokesman said: “Uefa’s anti-doping regulations regarding the consequences for teams for doping offences are strictly in accordance with article 11 of the Wada code that states that ‘where more than one team member in a team sport has been notified of a possible anti-doping rule violation, the team shall be subject to target testing for the event.
If more than two team members in a team sport are found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation during the event, the team may be subject to disqualification or other disciplinary action.”
Adding spice to tonight’s fixture, Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic responded: “Mr Wenger can think and talk about what he wants but there are other people who make decisions about that and that will be in the future.”