Adebayor retaliates in Arsenal row

The Togo international has been banned for three matches for his stamp on Robin van Persie in City's 4-2 win over the Gunners last Saturday, and faces the threat of further punishment if the Football Association take a dim view of his controversial goal celebration in the same game.

"There were players from Arsenal who refused to shake my hand before the match," Adebayor told The Sun. "When a man offers you his hand, you shake it. For them to act like that was a disgrace."

His relationship with his former Gunners team-mates took a further nosedive on Thursday when Cesc Fabregas claimed that he, too, was the victim of an alleged Adebayor stamp in last weekend's heated clash, but the City striker insists it was the Arsenal players who were at fault.

"My friends, like [Emmanuel] Eboue, were fine with me," Adebayor added. "They are decent people. But I could not understand some of the Arsenal players being disrespectful towards me.

"I don't want to give you their names - that is not my style - but there's more than one of them. I can just about understand the fans' reaction because they don't know the full story. However the way some of the players behaved is just crazy."

Adebayor, who is banned for Sunday's Manchester derby and will also miss the Carling Cup game with Fulham and Premier League encounter with West Ham, feels the angry reaction of some Arsenal fans following his £25million summer exit is hard to comprehend.

"An offer came in for me and, as I understand it, Arsene and the club accepted the offer the same day," he said. "It wasn't my fault I left, it was Arsene who wanted to accept the offer for me.

"I wasn't making any comments in the press about wanting to leave or being unhappy. It was the club who wanted to sell me yet I am being abused by the fans who once cheered me.

"I think, in terms of class on the pitch, we [City] have overtaken Arsenal and that was a reason for some of the hostility."