(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Once the smoke from the fireworks had cleared, there was at least one moment of clarity during Arsene Wenger's scathing attack on UEFA this afternoon.

The Arsenal manager has cut a calm and collected figure so far this season, but that ended after Eduardo was charged for "deceiving the referee" against Celtic.

Wenger's rant gave his critics plenty of ammo in his pre-Man United press conference. He failed to condemn Eduardo for what even Arsenal fans have agreed was a blatant dive, saying that he could "prove that Eduardo has been touched."

That goes beyond wearing rose-tinted glasses.

Wenger suggested the ordeal had been a "trial by media". Yet he wrote tomorrow's tabloid headlines when he said "Eduardo has been treated like he has killed someone" and used the word "witch-hunt".

Another easy day for the sub-editors on the Daily Mail's sports desk, no doubt.

But despite the red mist impairing his judgement, the Frenchman managed to conjure up a welcome dose of common sense—Something UEFA could clearly do with.

"The referees need help. How many times have I come out and said I am for video technology? UEFA refused the video technology but now they have used it to judge our player. Where is the logic?"

Touché Monsieur.

He then added something that a lot of fans, not just Gooners, have been saying.

"We have been victims of dives from some players in England, who were English, who were never treated like that so you have to answer a case as well, the medias and the press, to treat every case exactly the same."

Ironically, or rather predictably, none of the main UK newspaper websites have used this last quote. I could only find it on the Daily Mail website, which published a full transcript after its main report.

Wenger went on to say: "[UEFA has] opened the door to every single decision made by a referee can now be challenged. They've opened a very dangerous door there."

Apparantly, UEFA has done this before.

The Times reports: "There are previous examples of such retrospective use of video evidence—UEFA suspended Saulius Mikoliunas, the former Heart of Midlothian midfield player, for two matches for diving in a European Championship qualifying match between Lithuania and Scotland, and the Scottish FA handed a two-match ban to Kyle Lafferty this month for feigning injury—but none involving such a high-profile club."

Judging by the reaction everywhere, UEFA has indeed opened a monumental can of worms. Will it maintain its stance if Monsieurs Gerrard, Drogba and Ronaldo take a customary tumble once the Champions League proper kicks off?

And will a player only be charged if his act of simulation "cons" the referee into the wrong decision. Usually, if the ref actually makes the right call, it only results in a yellow card, or the ref bottles it and gives nothing.

Again, where's the logic?

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