a écrit le 9 janvier 2006 à 11h58 Ivorians anger Wenger
Wenger's side won the match 2-1
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has criticised the Ivory Coast for banning Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue from playing in their FA Cup tie against Cardiff on Saturday.
The English club were warned by Fifa just 90 minutes before kick-off at Highbury that they risked handing the game to Cardiff if they fielded the two Ivory Coast internationals.
Wenger had hoped the Ivory Coast would delay their call-up to the African Nations Cup finals beyond Tuesday's Carling Cup semi-final tie against Wigan, let alone Saturday's third-round match.
However, his request for a delay was refused as the Ivory Coast stuck rigidly to Fifa's 14-day call-up rules ahead of the tournament in Egypt, with Didier Drogba also barred from playing for Chelsea.
That led to a hasty revision of the Arsenal team-sheet, with two youngsters Johan Djourou and Kerrea Gilbert being drafted into the starting line-up at short notice ahead of the 1pm kick-off.
Wenger revealed: "At the team meeting at 9am on Saturday, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were both in the team. But I had to pull them out at 11.30am as the Ivory Coast banned the players from playing and refused to give in.
"They threatened to go to Fifa if we played them. We asked Fifa and they said that if we played them, we risked losing the game.
"I didn't want to take that chance so I pulled them out.
"It's quite amazing when you get to a period where there is no common sense at all. We pay the players to play for them and they can ban the players we pay from playing for us - at a period where they're not playing at all.
"They're making so-called medical tests in Paris but it's just 50 minutes away from here by plane and we just wanted the players to go after playing."
Wenger said Toure and Eboue face the threat of burn-out ahead of a frenetic schedule of international fixtures.
After taking part in the African Nations Cup later this month, the Elephants will play at the World Cup finals in Germany in June.
"It is completely unbelievable. It's like you play the European Championship now and then the World Cup this summer," Wenger said.
"When they come back, they will be dead physically as the tournament is very intense in a different climate and there's all the travelling."
Wenger's side won the match 2-1
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has criticised the Ivory Coast for banning Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue from playing in their FA Cup tie against Cardiff on Saturday.
The English club were warned by Fifa just 90 minutes before kick-off at Highbury that they risked handing the game to Cardiff if they fielded the two Ivory Coast internationals.
Wenger had hoped the Ivory Coast would delay their call-up to the African Nations Cup finals beyond Tuesday's Carling Cup semi-final tie against Wigan, let alone Saturday's third-round match.
However, his request for a delay was refused as the Ivory Coast stuck rigidly to Fifa's 14-day call-up rules ahead of the tournament in Egypt, with Didier Drogba also barred from playing for Chelsea.
That led to a hasty revision of the Arsenal team-sheet, with two youngsters Johan Djourou and Kerrea Gilbert being drafted into the starting line-up at short notice ahead of the 1pm kick-off.
Wenger revealed: "At the team meeting at 9am on Saturday, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue were both in the team. But I had to pull them out at 11.30am as the Ivory Coast banned the players from playing and refused to give in.
"They threatened to go to Fifa if we played them. We asked Fifa and they said that if we played them, we risked losing the game.
"I didn't want to take that chance so I pulled them out.
"It's quite amazing when you get to a period where there is no common sense at all. We pay the players to play for them and they can ban the players we pay from playing for us - at a period where they're not playing at all.
"They're making so-called medical tests in Paris but it's just 50 minutes away from here by plane and we just wanted the players to go after playing."
Wenger said Toure and Eboue face the threat of burn-out ahead of a frenetic schedule of international fixtures.
After taking part in the African Nations Cup later this month, the Elephants will play at the World Cup finals in Germany in June.
"It is completely unbelievable. It's like you play the European Championship now and then the World Cup this summer," Wenger said.
"When they come back, they will be dead physically as the tournament is very intense in a different climate and there's all the travelling."
