Emmanuel Adebayor has maintained a defiant stance over his behavior against his former club Arsenal as Manchester City prepare to defend the Togo striker’s improper conduct charge.
Adebayor has been hit with a three-match ban after being found guilty of violent conduct following a stamp on Arsenal striker Robin van Persie’s head during last weekend’s match at Eastlands.
He has also been charged with improper conduct for racing the length of the pitch to celebrate a goal in City’s 4-2 victory in front of the Arsenal supporters.
PHOTO: AFP
City boss Mark Hughes revealed on Friday that his club were determined to back Adebayor when his improper conduct case goes before the Football Association.
“It is important you do not take the emotion out of the game. It is part and parcel of what football is about and why it is such a huge sport worldwide,” Hughes said. “The circumstances of the game, and the amount of criticism and vitriol Ade had to take was not nice. It was a difficult situation for him coming up against former teammates.”
Adebayor is adamant he has nothing to feel guilty about anyway because he had been disrespected by his old teammates, who he claims refused to shake his hand before the match, and the Arsenal fans who chanted vile abuse at him throughout the highly charged encounter.
“People talk about us as being football players and the money we earn, but just because we are fortunate it does not mean we need to take abuse,” Adebayor told the Sun. “If you were to abuse a man in the street for over an hour he would react and it would be a worse reaction than a goal celebration. There is only so much abuse a man can take until he reaches breaking point. I was being abused by people who six months ago were singing my name and the abuse was for no reason. I scored and I wanted to show people it is not a good idea to abuse me.”
Adebayor, who left Arsenal under a cloud following his flirtation with several big clubs in the previous 18 months, was especially hurt that players he spent years with at Arsenal wouldn’t have anything to do with him when he approached them before kick-off.
“There were players from Arsenal who refused to shake my hand before the match,” he told the Sun. “I don’t want to give you their names — that is not my style — but there’s more than one of them. These are people I have spent a lot of time with and people I thought were my friends. The way some of the players behaved is just crazy. When a man offers you his hand, you shake it. For them to act like that was a disgrace.”
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas added fuel to the Adebayor controversy when he claimed on Friday that he was fortunate not to have his leg broken by another challenge from his former teammate last weekend that left him with a 7cm gash in his leg.
“I think this is a red card here,” said Fabregas, reportedly gesturing to his leg and claiming the injury was suffered in a challenge made by Adebayor.
“I was lucky my foot was in the air when it happened. All I tried to do when he [Adebayor] was at Arsenal was to create opportunities for him to score — so I think I didn’t do too bad for him,” he said.
Gunners manager Arsene Wenger tried to draw a line under the row when he insisted he had nothing more to say on an issue that has cast a shadow over both Arsenal and Manchester City.
“Personally, I believe what is very important for us is to focus on Saturday’s game and forget all that happened last weekend,” Wenger said. “Adebayor plays for Man City, he does not play for Arsenal anymore and I am here to speak about the players who play for our club and not those who do not anymore. In our job you accept that you give and do not expect any return, so you are never disappointed.”
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