Arsene Wenger could find himself in further disciplinary trouble with UEFA after communicating with the Arsenal bench despite his touchline ban against Udinese.
Wenger was a frustrated figure in the Emirates Stadium stands watching Arsenal labour to a 1-0 win in the first-leg of their Champions League play-off. He was forced to serve a one-match touchline ban for abusing Swiss referee Massimo Busacca in the last-16 defeat to Barcelona last season.
Before the play-off, Arsenal had checked with UEFA that Wenger could send messages to the coaching staff via a third party and, as a result, first-team coach Boro Primorac passed instructions from Wenger to assistant manager Pat Rice on the touchline throughout the first period.
UEFA warned Wenger at half-time that he was contravening the rules and as a result he withdrew from communication, even though Primorac appeared to continue to make phone-calls, which may prompt the governing body to investigate whether Wenger attempted to bend the rules. After the match, the Gunners boss felt that as he had not been involved in proceedings in the usual way he would not attend the post-match press conference, which in itself could lead to a fine or another ban.
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