Wenger May Face Lengthy Touchline Ban

Former football officials, Keith Hackett and Graham Poll, have called on the English Football Association (FA) to hand Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger a lengthy touchline ban after an altercation with a match official.

Wenger appeared to push the fourth official Anthony Taylor twice, after he told him to exit the tunnel in Arsenal’s dramatic 2-1 victory over Burnley in the English Premier League on Sunday.

The Gunners boss was sent off after protesting furiously at referee Jonathan Moss’s decision to award Burnley a 93rd-minute penalty which Andre Gray converted to cancel out Shkodran Mustafi’s opener.

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Wenger refused to leave the pitch and appeared to Taylor as he tried to view the match from the tunnel.

Hackett said the FA should make an example of the Arsenal boss, adding that a failure to do that will be “a slap on the wrist”.

“For the sake of every official at every level of the game the FA must throw the book at Arsene Wenger after his disgraceful behaviour on Sunday,” Hackett wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph on behalf of You Are The Ref.

“They need to send out a strong, clear message — officials are sacrosanct and if you lay hands on them you will pay a heavy price. A one- or two-match touchline ban just won’t cut it on this occasion. A slap on the wrist would tell every

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Sunday morning player that it’s OK to abuse or physically assault officials.

“What I would like to see as an absolute minimum is a six-game ban — but a far more severe punishment than simply being banished from the touchline.

“Instead, I would like to see Wenger barred from any contact with his team once inside the stadium. UEFA regularly impose this sanction and I feel it has far more impact than a manager simply being unable to stand in the technical area.”

Poll who also wrote in his column for the Daily Mail said Wenger “must surely face a lengthy touchline ban after he inexplicably went berserk.

“Wenger and his team have benefitted from plenty of ‘close calls’ by officials this season and he should have remembered that and stayed calm.”

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The Arsenal boss was quick to apologise for the incident, saying, “I regret everything. I should have shut up, gone in and gone home, basically. I apologise for that.”

Granit Xhaka was sent off for a reckless lunge on Steven Defour with 24 minutes remaining as Arsenal were made to sweat for a win that appeared highly probable after Mustafi’s second half opener.

The FA will wait for Moss’s report before deciding on a course of action.

Recall that former Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew was fined £20,000 and banned for two matches for shoving assistant referee Peter Kirkup when in charge of Newcastle in August 2012.

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