Arsene Wenger's witch hunt fury as UEFA charge star

The Croatia international faces a two- match ban if found guilty of "deceiving the referee" at a disciplinary hearing next Tuesday over the penalty he won under minimal contact from goalkeeper Artur Boruc.

Eduardo then scored the resulting spot-kick and Scottish Football Association chief Gordon Smith was sufficiently angered to brand the 26-year-old "disrespectful" and called for UEFA to act.

But Wenger hit back, insisting the decision was unfair, had set a dangerous precedent and claims the rules of football may now have been irreparably distorted.

The boss, who will be without Cesc Fabregas for tomorrow's trip to Manchester United, also revealed Eduardo has privately protested his innocence and he said: "I think it is a complete disgrace and not acceptable.

"We will not accept the way UEFA have treated this. I believe you can debate it was a penalty or not but this charge implies Eduardo tried to cheat the referee. Having seen again the pictures, nothing is conclusive on that. Again, it singles out a player in Europe to be a cheat and that is not acceptable. UEFA have taken an action that is not defendable.

"I fought my whole life against cheating and I have seen some obvious cases where UEFA didn't intervene. On and off the pitch, things have happened where UEFA did not act at all.

"In this case, it's the first time that a situation that has been judged by the referee is not accepted by the football bodies. So they open a door here which means every single decision by a referee can now be challenged.

"For me it is a witch hunt and not an objective judge of a case that has happened in the game. Eduardo has been touched by the goalkeeper and we can prove that.

"I am the first to say it does not look to be a penalty but it is another to judge that he did go down with intent. I wish you good luck to prove that, having seen the pictures again.

"When you see his leg being tackled, I don't blame him for getting out of the way of the goalkeeper. Of course, we will argue that.

"It is completely lack of logic in this case. Why? Because people have reacted emotionally, which I can understand.

"Secondly, because this case has been ruled by the media, and, thirdly, emotionally by Scotland, by the Scottish FA, and by Scottish people working at UEFA who think that this case is a bit more sensitive because they have more influence there."

Eduardo would miss the Champions League opener against Standard Liege in Belgium on 16 September and the home clash with Greek side Olympiacos 13 days later.

A UEFA statement read: "Having studied video evidence of the incident in question, the UEFA disciplinary inspector decided to charge the player concerned. The UEFA control and disciplinary body will examine the case on 1 September."

If Eduardo is banned it will be the first time that a referee's decision has been overturned by the football authorities.

However, in 2007 UEFA handed Lithuania winger Saulius Mikoliunas a two-match suspension after TV footage showed he dived to get a penalty against Scotland.