UEFA have had massive publicity in the past week – mainly for the wrong reasons. Wednesday night’s Champions League qualifier at the Emirates Stadium was at the centre of the controversy. Eduardo dived after minimal contact from Arthur Boruc – that much is true. What followed is ridiculous.

Firstly, a charge was administered to the Brazil-born Croatian based on Article 10, paragraph 1c of their regulations which deals with ‘acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision’. The prospect of a two-match ban is being mentioned for Eduardo, assuming he can be proven to have acted with intent and a desire to cheat and deceive the referee. While the player dived, there was minimal contact with Boruc. Can UEFA prove this clearly? It does seem unlikely.

It seems that UEFA have suddenly decided to pull out a rule barely referred to in the history of the Champions League. A cynic would argue this organisation is acting upon the media hysteria in Scotland and England. But that is exactly what is happening. The last time a player was banned for diving also involved a Scottish side. Lithuanian Saulius Mikoliunas did so against the national side. Of course the coincidence has led to Wenger claiming the Scottish influence at UEFA has led to the charge being administered. UEFA general secretary David Taylor, a Scot, said of Wenger’s comments:

“It’s our duty to apply the rules without fear or favour. We simply refer the matter to the disciplinary committee, which is independent.”

Wenger’s dismay at how UEFA informed Arsenal of the charge is understandable. A number of senior officials were in Monaco for the CL group stage draw and could have easily been informed by UEFA. Instead a fax was sent to the club, where it was only spotted by a junior worker, who informed Wenger of UEFA’s rash decision.

The retrospective ban has opened the door to a dangerous path for UEFA. When a player is caught simulating a tumble by the referee on the pitch, he is in most cases cautioned. Why the sudden increase in punishment if the action has been taken after the match? It makes little sense and lacks any consistency.

Now, every single decision by the referee could be undermined. Of course it won’t, because UEFA are only acting due to the media attention this particular dive has received. Was there an outcry when Tony Hibbert tried to buy a penalty as Everton lost to Burnley? Or when Ashley Young tumbled twice against Rapid Vienna? In fact, Sky Sports even reported the incident as legitimate when it clearly wasn’t. In fact Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have done it also.

Except, when these England internationals do it, they are rarely called on it and their tumbles are euphemistically referred to. ‘He was light on his feet there’ is a particular favourite of commentators in Britain. It does seem that there is a media agenda to make sure the general consensus remains that English players are honest and it is only foreigners who have polluted the beautiful game with their cheating. And UEFA have fallen for it.

Perhaps it would have been different if Vienna had been eliminated due to such acts of simulation, but even then one doubts whether the voices of the Austrian side are deemed important enough for the executives at UEFA to even consider. Wenger asked for consistency and unsurprisingly he hasn’t got it. These quotes from Wenger were on Arsenal.com after the match, but subsequently edited from the match reaction article:

“UEFA you know has made the case with Eduardo. You watched the game last night. They will have to charge Messi for head butting last night or they will lose credibility. They’ve opened something there. Over the weekend, I’ll find you fifty situations where they can intervene, and if they don’t Eduardo will be singled out for being the wrong victim because Pedro of Barcelona dived as well last night. I don’t think that Eduardo’s case has any logic because you look again well at what happened; he was touched. We had clear proof from behind; he was touched on his right leg.”

Of course nothing is likely to be done because consistency is not a word Platini and co. wants to hear. A cynic might say this one incident may have been jumped on by UEFA to allow further publicity of Platini’s personal crusade to introduce more referees in each match. Of course, no-one will mention that only video technology could have been used to actually find the footage to allow them to charge Eduardo for diving.

Perhaps Platini’s blatant dislike for Wenger’s youth policy (which means that Arsenal have had a lack of home-grown youth players - although that may not be the case now) could be another reason as to why this particular incident has been targeted. Furthermore, Platini himself admitted that he has dived:

“I know why players do it - because I’ve dived myself. I did it because I knew the referee wouldn’t see me trying it on and also because there were no cameras either. If we thought we could get away with it, we would!”

After all, it was Platini’s personal intervention which led to this incident being looked into. The Scottish workers at the SFA or UEFA did not refer this case to be investigated into according to David Taylor, but Platini. While Wenger is refusing to admit his player dived, the majority of his arguments are very convincing against the laughable actions of UEFA.

He will receive one apology from the FA after being sent off for kicking a bottle in frustration after Arsenal failed to force an equaliser against Manchester United on Saturday in a 2-1 defeat. Mike Dean, under the advice of his 4^th official, sent the Arsenal manager to the stands. There was no way into the stands and Wenger ended up standing in the middle of the United fans with an expression perplexed at the farcical decision of the match officials.

Will Wenger receive another apology, this time from UEFA, for how his club have been treated in this incident? Don’t bet on it.

Group Stage draw excites

Kaka will return to the San Siro to face his former club AC Milan after a £56m move to Real Madrid earlier this summer. President Florentino Perez expects European success after such a massive transfer outlay in which Albiol, Benzema, Alonso, Granero, Arbeloa and Ronaldo were also acquired. Madrid has been knocked out in the Round of 16 for the past five years and will not want to make it six in a row, especially when the final will be held at the Bernabeu.

Meanwhile Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will face their former clubs after Inter and Barcelona were drawn in the same group. Other possibly mouth-watering ties will occur in Group A, where Bayern Munich, powered by Robben and Ribery, with face Diego’s Juventus and Gourcuff’s Bordeaux. Elsewhere, Liverpool faces a rejuvenated Lyon side, led by the fiery Lisandro Lopez, and a decent Fiorentina side.

Manchester United face long trips to Turkey and Russia but should qualify with ease. Chelsea face an always tricky Atletico Madrid but have a decent draw overall, while Arsenal should top their group, although Standard Liege represent a big threat, having troubled Liverpool and Everton in recent years. The full draw is below:

Group A: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Bordeaux , Maccabi Haifa

Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Besiktas, Wolfsburg

Group C: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille, FC Zurich

Group D: Chelsea, Porto, Atletico Madrid, Apoel FC

Group E: Liverpool, Lyon, Fiorentina, Debreceni

Group F: Barcelona, Internazionale, Dynamo Kiev, FC Rubin Kazan

Group G: Sevilla, Rangers, VfB Stuttgart, Unirea Uriziceni

Group H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiakos, Standard Liege.