UEFA facing legal woe without video tech, says Arsenal boss Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes football’s governing bodies could find themselves in court over incorrect decisions if video technology is not widely introduced.

The Football Association (FA) last week announced plans to test a video assistant referee system from the third round of next season’s FA Cup, in line with a raft of exploratory measures outlined by the International Football Association Board.

The quarter-finals of this season’s competition at the weekend will see the FA acting upon the potential reforms by allowing a fourth substitute if any of the ties go to extra time.

Wenger’s men are expected to complete the job within 90 minutes at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, where they play host to the next stage of fifth-tier Lincoln City’s improbable run.

Speculation over whether the 67-year-old will extend his 20-year stay at Arsenal beyond the end of this season remains rife, but he is keen to see a more permanent place for the FA’s proposed roll-out after a week in which refereeing controversy was prominent in his side’s 5-1 Champions League thumping at the hands of Bayern Munich and Barcelona’s astonishing comeback to beat Paris Saint-Germain.

“Honestly, I’m believing that in the next five years, if UEFA does not bring video in, they could face legal action from television or from fans because they refuse to progress for the right decisions,” Wenger said.

“The fans and television companies pay a lot of money and they [governing bodies] spoil the package because they don’t do the maximum to give a fair spectacle.

“If they don’t go further, that is what will happen because we live in a society that is legalist and what people pay is more and more.

“If UEFA and FIFA don’t take that step to go for more justice, they can’t offer what we saw for us against Bayern or the night after [Barca v PSG]. It is indefensible.”

Fan protests calling for Wenger to leave are expected to take place before the Lincoln match, as they did against Bayern.

The man at the centre of it all is keen to guard against an unthinkable blow for his team, who are reeling from five defeats in seven games across all competitions.

“In football anything can happen,” Wenger added.