Wenger urges Uefa to clarify its 'confusing' regulations

Wenger was forced to watch the Udinese match from the stands (GETTY IMAGES)

Arsène Wenger yesterday hit out at the lack of clarity in Uefa's rules governing touchline bans. Wenger was still waiting to learn whether he would be charged for his actions while serving a one-match ban during Tuesday night's Champions League play-off round first leg against Udinese.

The manager was caught passing messages to his team via a third party at the Emirates Stadium before being warned not to at half-time. Wenger claimed Uefa had told him he was permitted to relay instructions to assistant manager Pat Rice through first-team coach Boro Primorac, who was in phone contact with the bench.

But European football's governing body denied giving Wenger permission and has been studying the report from its match officials before deciding whether to take further action. Any sanction would likely be a fine rather than another ban but that would not go down well with Wenger, who yesterday insisted that he did everything he could to respect Uefa's rules.

"It was very difficult because you don't know really what the rules are," he said. "They told us first that, through my assistant, he can communicate. [But] after half-time, it was not like that. We tried to respect the rules."

Wenger is also preparing for the loss of midfielder Samir Nasri, with the Frenchman close to joining Manchester City for £22m.