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Wenger - Why Toure and Eboue had to miss Cardiff tie
Arsene Wenger has revealed the reasons behind the absence of Ivorian pair
Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue from Saturday’s FA Cup Third Round win over
Cardiff City.
The Gunners had hoped to keep both defenders for the tie with the Welsh
outfit, before they joined Ivory Coast’s preparations for this month’s
African Cup of Nations in Egypt. In the end, Arsenal had to do without
the duo.
“I could not play them today,” said Wenger, speaking after Robert Pires'
double inspired a 2-1 win at Highbury.
“At nine o’clock this morning in the team meeting, they were in the squad,
in the team.
“I pulled them out at 11.30am. They [Ivorian national team management] are
sitting in a hotel waiting for their players.”
Arsenal asked the Ivorian FA to allow Toure and Eboue to play against
Cardiff before joining up with their national team-mates on Saturday evening,
but their request was rebuffed.
“We just wanted the players to go tonight instead of going last night and
[to] play today. It was turned down,” said Wenger.
“They travel on Monday to the United Arab Emirates for a training camp."
Wenger also explained that the Club had asked FIFA to intervene and offer
a solution but were instead warned the match may be awarded to Cardiff,
if the duo were not released on time.
“We asked FIFA and they said if you play them, you risk to lose the game.
I didn’t want to take that chance. And in the end, I decided to pull the
players out."