Wenger facing FA charge for referee tirade

actions into account as it was within a year of the new charge. They are likely to meet before the end of next week.

It is also understood the FA are ready to publish exact details of Wenger’s verbal assault on Dean.

In his fresh attack on Dean, who ruled Calum Chambers had deliberately handled at the Hawthorns, Wenger said of referees: “They have not to be the star. We want them to respect the game and make the right decision and the ego should not interfere in that.

“It’s not [appropriate] any more, in 2018, that the guy calls a player, speaks half a minute, or a minute to him, to say, ‘Look, you have to behave properly’. That is gone. That is not the rhythm of a modern society. People want crisp, sharp action, and the referee has to make sure that happens.

“This is not the 1950s, where the guy talks to him and says, ‘If you’re not nice, I might punish you’. What does it help for the game? Nothing. Nothing happens.

“People who sit in the stand don’t want to see that. They want to see, ‘Come on, let’s get on with it and play’.

“That’s our responsibility. We don’t live in the Dark Ages.”

Jay Rodriguez converted the penalty on Sunday and Wenger said: “This one is a bit of a farce, seriously. Because you do not give a penalty like that in the last minute of a game.

“When you see how he [Dean] shows his arm, it is nothing to do with what happened. So he sees what he wants to see.”

Wenger also confirmed Dean had told him to “keep quiet” when he confronted him after the final whistle.

Of his confrontation with Taylor, above, who was fourth official when referee Jon Moss awarded Burnley a late penalty last year, Wenger said: “I don’t want to make a story out of Anthony Taylor to put pressure on him.

“But what happened at the time, I stood up and I’m experienced to look at myself.”

He also claimed his team had been the victims of other bad penalty decisions at Stoke, Watford and Manchester City, saying: “It’s unbelievable what happened this season.

“That is a concerning coincidence.”