Wenger Sits Out Spurs Clash

Posted Wednesday, September 22, 2010 by Goal.com

The FA have today confirmed that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has accepted a charge of "using insulting and/or abusive language and behaviour amounting to improper conduct", and will now serve a one-match touchline ban.

The Frenchman will also be fined £8,000, the standard sanction in such cases along with the ban, and will sit through his suspension from the dugout during Tuesday's League Cup tie with Tottenham Hotspur.

The charge relates to an incident which occurred during the Gunners' 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, when Wenger confronted match officials in the wake of the hosts' late equaliser, appearing to pat the fourth official on the back sarcastically.

After the game, Wenger expressed his anger that the match officials had appeared to add on more time than was necessary as stoppage time at the end of the game.

With Sunderland's equaliser almost the last kick of the contest, Wenger was clearly frustrated that his side had been denied the chance to top the Premier League table.

"I know the referee can give more than four, it's a minimum of four minutes, but in the four minutes nothing happened to justify the extension of the time," he told reporters after the match.

"But I cannot do anything about that.

"If you have a watch, you can control. It's as simple as that."

As for whether he had actually made contact with his hands on fourth official Martin Atkinson, he replied: "Take the pictures and look at it. I complain to nobody, especially not to you."