Arsene Wenger surprised at FA charge for comments about refereeing

The Frenchman is facing potential FA charges for comments made about officiating of Arsenal's last two games against West Brom and Chelsea

Arsene Wenger doesn't regret his comments about referees in recent weeks (Getty)

Arsene Wenger says he is “shocked” at being charged for his comments in the referee’s room following Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at West Brom on Sunday.

Already facing up to the possibility of more punishment for his statements on officiating before and after the 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Wednesday, the Arsenal manager had got in trouble for expressing his fury following Mike Dean’s decision to award an 89th-minute penalty to West Brom at the Hawthorns on New Years Eve.

An FA statement said “it is alleged his language and/or behaviour in the match officials’ changing room after the game was abusive and/or improper and/or questioned the integrity of the match referee.” Wenger did not feel there was anything extraordinary.

“You imagine that I’ve been in the game for 21 years and what I’ve seen and heard in the corridors from people, you’ll understand that I’m quite surprised at being charged.”

Wenger was then asked to clarify his thoughts on penalties, and whether he feels they are more than a "coincidence" against Arsenal.

"I have nothing to add to that. I maintain what I said. At the end of the day, we always spend time talking about things that are not really important in the game. What we want is to see big football games, big players on the football pitch and you want them to be refereed by top-quality people. I think I’ve contributed a lot to give referees a great opportunity to be at their best because I’ve had a huge influence on whether they became professional or not.

"I believe I’ve had more influence on that and a positive one too. That’s why I can also be demanding and what I want from them is to be at the top. I’m quite surprised that that is shocking."

A long-time supporter of extra technology to aid referees, Wenger backed the experiment with VAR for the FA Cup this weekend, but with certain caveats.

Wenger is facing potential FA charges for recent comments (Getty)

“Well, I believe it is like every new technology I can be very positive, I am always in favour of moving forward and therefore even if it creates problems it can sort out many mistakes which have been made before and for example the most obvious ones, when you see Swansea against Tottenham, the offside goal would have been detected, so it can get many mistakes out of the games, especially the offsides.

"It depends how we use it, if it is to keep completely control for the central referee and out of the pitch, looking at the television while the stadium sits there and freezes, it’s better we stay with eh old system. We can get better but as well make it worse.”