Arsene Wenger says Granit Xhaka completely denies suggestions that he racially abused a British Airways worker in an incident at Heathrow airport that resulted in the Swiss being interviewed under caution by police.
The 24-year-old was reported for allegedly labelling an employee at Terminal “a f*****g white bitch” after she refused to allow his girlfriend’s brother onto a flight.
The incident capped off a week of bad press for the Switzerland international who was sent off against Burnley and now faces a four-match ban.
Speaking ahead of his side’s FA Cup clash with Southampton, Wenger confirmed he’d spoken to Xhaka about the off-pitch incident revealing:
“He denies completely the incident at Heathrow. I’ve talked with him about that and he denies completely what happened there.
“I’ve spoken to him about it, he denies completely the incident.”
Clarifying exactly what Xhaka denies, Wenger later added: “He denies what he’s alleged to have said.”
Asked about the player’s temperament and if he’s let the club down, Wenger continued: “I can only talk about him from what I’ve seen since the start [of his Arsenal career].
“He’s had a fantastic attitude since he arrived here on a daily basis. Sometimes you don’t know how players behave on a daily basis, but I must say he has been absolutely marvellous to handle on a daily basis.
Commitment, focus, dedication…I’ve never heard any bad noise about him.”
it’s a weird one all round, this
Yeah big time, its proper weird. There are loads of dubious circumstances surrounding this whole situation. It was reported by a third party, and he was speaking in German? So is there potentially a translation issue? What he is alleged to of said in German, does it hold the same weight or gravity when said in German in Germany as it does when translated from German to English? The third party who made the complaint did they hear what Xhaka said properly? where they German themselves, or not? did they translate it properly? Literally fuck knows, I mean the jury… Read more »
I think him being born in Albania and that they are known to be racist to Serb whites with the history (not quite sure but thats what i read on a blog or fb post) might be a bit of light to it. He is Swiss by nationality too so….Lord knows but its worth a chapter in his autobiography haha.
So the white b*tch is a lying white b*tch…
Please don’t behave like that. And it was a third party who reported the alleged comments, not the staff member herself who, regardless of anything else, doesn’t deserve to be called a bitch by anyone.
Really appreciate the fact that you always stand up against any kind of abuse, blogs. Proud that the most popular blogger of the team I love seems to be a genuinely good person.
? cheers man
I don’t appreciate this particular “defense”. You don’t get to make jokes about John Terry and whoever and whatever else being cunts, then turn around and pretend to offended about “anonymous poster A” calling (and clearly jokingingly) “unkown woman B” a bitch. You can’t have it both ways, that’s dishonest and duplicitous.
john terry isn’t jokingly a c*nt tho…
did you think we were joking about that?
“Dishonest and duplicitous”, nice.
We get to say what we want about celebrities and they get to keep all the money and fame/infamy they want. That’s how the world works. They can’t have money fame and be treated decently. That’s just unfair!
You can call him a cunt, but then anybody can say “ah you don’t know all the facts about John Terry, calling him a cunt is unnecessary because he’s also done this charity and fed X people and blah blah blah we don’t know the full story”. The honest truth is for all John Terry’s done, he’s achieved most people have and likely ever will and he has therefore been in a position to do a lot of good in his life. But, here’s the kicker, no one gives a shit about that, just the same way when dude above… Read more »
What happened to equality and all that?
I’m 100% for treating everyone equally, but let’s not pretend it isn’t just a bit more loaded when women are abused online. That’s my point. I think it’s incumbent on all of us to take a stand in that regard (interesting read if you can be bothered: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/apr/12/the-dark-side-of-guardian-comments) As for John Terry, of course he’s achieved a lot, but football provides us with semi-pantomime villains, and he’s one. One that we know lots of facts about, like calling Anton Ferdinand a ‘fucking black cunt’, for example. This lady at the airport, nobody knows anything about her, the way she behaved… Read more »
Nice sentiments and all, but it’s a bit hypocritical to say someone shouldn’t be called a bitch with the amount you call people c*nts all the time.
If someone who happens to be female is a bad/horrible/nasty person, why shouldn’t they deserve to be called a bitch? I’m not saying that is the case here, as she could quite easily have been doing her job and not have warranted abuse, but it’s also possible that she could’ve been an annoying jobsworth.
The point is that someone is lying, or at least mistaken on what was said.
I agree on the B word, just trying to be funny rather than direct it at someone I don’t know and would never call the B word in real life. Though there is a strong argument it is tamer than the C word, given their meanings.
@Pedant – understood. Wasn’t trying to pick on you, just make a general point in relation to your comment
But we don’t know what happened or what was said. Maybe he did call her that and she deserved it (and didn’t complain) but at the moment we’ve no idea.
It could be that the 3rd party that reported this is just causing problems…
Personally I’d just call them a cunt too. Why reserve that just for guys?
I call cunts cunts because they’re cunts.
We don’t know if this person was a ‘bitch’ or not, but there’s also something more unpleasant about abuse aimed at women, especially online, and I’d rather people didn’t do that here. Especially when they don’t know the facts.
and the cunts that are cunts are millionaire footballers who make money on their footballing skill and their image rights and we have a vested interest as fans in calling them what they are.
ladies who work for airlines do not get the same money to take or abuse.
I don’t mean this in a bad way, but that’s sexist. If you’re uncomfortable making a joke about someone because their female, that’s sexist. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but you are literally making a judgement based on sex, ergo sexist.
If John Terry is a cunt is ok, then random BA steward is a bitch should also be ok, that is equality. Unless you want to suggest we stop name calling all together…in which case you can go fuck yourself!
I acknowledge that your comment is made in good faith and with good intentions but I feel it’s a little patronising to women. Women are perfectly capable of standing up for themselves, handling an insult and dishing out suitable reposts (just as any man being called a cunt/bastard etc).
My comment above is in general terms. Obviously none of us know what happened in this case, nor know this particular women.
Women are very capable of standing up for themselves but this whole sexism argument is misplaced. He is saying not to slabber about this innocent woman and it is ok to slabber about guilty people, end of. So don’t get all on your high horses for fuck sake listen to yourselves youse are having a go at blogs for standing up for an innocent person being slabbered in a fashion that gives her no chance to defend herself.
What is a cunt though? Would you think of the women you know in your life and what it means in terms of their bodies and say it is a bad thing? Given you came from one and have no doubt been up one, probably very pleasurably.
I’m interested in why the use of the word cunt isn’t derogatory to women given it is an incredibly negative thing to say about someone (and far more so than calling someone a female dog).
1dangooner, id prefer people just didnt talk like that than have a thread on arseblog with women fighting for their rights not to be called bitches lol.
I thought about commenting here about how I agree with blogs. But actually I’m going away from this to eat a cheese toasty. COYG
Lol…well Xhaka is not stupid and i think he would have been advised by his legal team to deny deny deny. makes sense because luckily for him, he was speaking in German, a language which according to available narratives, his alleged ‘victim’ doesn’t speak, the abuse was translated by a bystander, so she will have to rely on hearsay evidence to prove, which is lots more difficult.
Jizz…did they really have to call the police and make a national issue out of this? A racial abuse case! Couldn’t they have just talked and apologies exchanged. The bystander really needs to get a life too.
Bringing jizz into it takes it to place I don’t think anyone wants it to go
Soissons german no doubt, even more difficult to understand, I lived in Basel for a spell
Soissons? WTF, Swiss autocorrect
Xhaking commentary this!
Hope the fans really get behind him the next time he plays.
We get a player after a long time who will put his foot in and the press is gunning for his head.
COYR!
We have a player who twice in the space of a few days has let himself and the club down. Whether or not he said that, it still appears clear he has had an argument in the airport for which the police were called. If it were a player from any other club you’d write the guy off as a modern day spoilt footballer. I’m all for supporting the team but in this case he owes us. Needs to put his head down for the rest of the season.
You have no idea what happened at the airport.
no idea at all.
he made a rash tackle that warranted a yellow card.
the police, the club and the FA are all over this – maybe the supporters should support?
who remembers tony adams as Mr Arsenal or Mr Drunk Driver?
To be clear im not saying the fans should boo him or the manager should sell him. I just don’t think playing for the Arsenal puts you in the right at all times. To be fair though I have since read that he only got frustrated because his mother had left the key out and he didn’t want to miss the flight and let her down.
Factor in it was the same ref for both reds with the first never a red. Very cynical foul but how many do Arsenal get on the break every damn game?! How many reds have been given for break away challenges near the half way line? Its a joke. The second i wont complain about as long as there is consistency (ha). You cant go face on with two feet off the ground its asking for trouble and i would not be happy if someone did that to me especially if they missed the ball id be looking to take… Read more »
The alleged abused person never made the complaint, a third party did. What I find strange is, that it’s alright for a black person to call another black person the N word, but not alright for a white person to call another white person a white B****. Funny old game the race card.
Would perhaps be a funny old game if we all were on an even footing.
Wow you are incredibly dim. Did you notice that you inserted the word ‘b***h’ which is indicative of sex? Meaning that comment is sexist. If a black person were to refer to another black person with the ‘n’ word, how does that reference the sex of that person at all? Why are you confusing the issue? I’ve never once heard a white person complain about being called white. Or a black person complain about being called black. Also, you show a total lack of understanding by bringing this topic up. Why should the black population of the world not use… Read more »
Funny because the white people appear to subtly blame black people that they cant say white to each other. Black people will never call it a racism case when two black people use colour terms against each other. It is when a person of a different race belittles or abuses you because of your colour that it becomes racism. Here we have 3 white people (Im presuming the third party is also white) and people are trying to pretend that just because someone referenced colour that makes it a racism case. No it isn’t.
The Met Police stated it was a racism case, no?
He will need to put his head down. Small or medium infractions off the pitch will be remixed for worst effect and amplified to dizzying proportions then retweeted silly. He doesn’t need this kind of pressure if he intends to be at his best in the pitch. I know Arsene is up to the task on this one though.
Have to laugh at so-called fans demanding we get rid of him. Where were these fans when we had an entire team of drunken reprobates, many of whom are revered by fans. And players who regularly overstepped the mark on the pitch and that was when you had to do a lot more to be sent off than you do now. Tackles like the two that got Xhaka sent off were barely yellows 10/20 yrs ago. So cut the lad some slack. Neither the sending off or this alleged incident are the worst things in the world for someone to… Read more »
Well said Al. Xhaka’s aggressive style of tackling is exactly the thing the media has been calling Arsenal to do more of. Both his challenges were not red cards and are the 2 softest reds all season.
We applauded players like Keown and Vieira for taking out their opponents 10 years ago while retrieving the ball. Now the media is trying to turn a witch-hunt on a guy who barely touched his opponent.
It is ridiculous.
The first red card was not even right. This one so so
If Xhaka was English and played for Sp*rs then you know the media would praise him every week. Arsenal don’t get that treatment, and that makes winning matches feel even better because we do it in spite of all the bullshit thrown at our beloved club.
And it feels like thats happening more and more. Seems to be a lot of shit in our direction…..well lets see, whos top of the league and owned by a russian billionaire?….which nation seems to be involved in various false news and hacking accusations aiming to brainwash, delude and influence others thought processes at the moment? Hmmmmm…..hmmmmm….in a business as profitable and influential as football, I dont think it would be a surprise if certain outside organisations were heavily involved in some of the “reports” that enter the media in this country. Just something to think about, just dont believe… Read more »
I don’t wish to come across as a conspiracy theorist, but I agree with all of this. You have to have your head seriously buried in the sand to not think the integrity of the game is not frequently threatened by powerful figureheads and organisations. Where there is garbage there are more than likely rats, in the same way where there are obscene amounts of money, there is likely corruption. I don’t feel like there is a particular agenda against arsenal (apart from some of our irrelevant, northern friends in the media/FA), but cunts do seem to get what they… Read more »
Hmmm, Xhaka was sent off for dangerous play ,right?. Free kick was awarded against him for the foul. Penalty kick was awarded against Burnley for the foul play in the box when Kolchieny wanted to score.Where was the RED CARD for the dangerous play for the kick on Kolchieny’s head ? The FA should look at that and take action .
Is it Saturday yet??
Am I the only person who thinks it’s pertinent that Xhaka “allegedly” insulted the woman IN A LANGUAGE SHE DOESN’T SPEAK? It is literally impossible to abuse someone by your words if they don’t understand said words. If he had meant to insult her, I imagine he knows the ten-or-so words necessary to do so in English, yet he spoke in German. This is one step divorced from thought crime. You are angry at someone but choose to vent your anger in a way that is harmless to them? Better hope there isn’t some f*cking rainbow-colored gender non-specific busybody around… Read more »
If you’d paid attention to the story, it wasn’t the person allegedly abused who made the complaint, but a third party.
As for this: “Better hope there isn’t some f*cking rainbow-colored gender non-specific busybody around to helpfully tell the hapless woman that she’d just been called a bitch,” – what have rainbow flags got to do with anything?
First off, when I used the expression “rainbow-colored” I was trying to sarcastically suggest that they were whatever color the reader imagined them to be (see also “gender non-specific”) – as race and gender seem to be such touchy issues. I wasn’t thinking of the rainbow flag and dismissed the notion that it would be interpreted that way. The rainbow flags truly have nothing to do with this. Again, sorry. And I did know that it was a third party who’d filed the complaint. That’s who the “f*cking rainbow-colored gender non-specific busybody” was supposed to refer to. That’s the person… Read more »
Gotcha
After reading Arseblog every day for a decade whatever, I took a break recently because I didn’t want to read about someone’s political opinion when it wasn’t warranted. Come back today and here we go again.
Bitch, cunt, racism, it is all the same, but don’t try to take the moral high ground just because your are a liberal. Thankfully the world is turning against liberal fascism and returning to common sense.
Adrian Durham is a cunting bitch.
And a big dick, too. He’s every insult possible to both genders!
So much b***hing going on here! He needs to learn how to conduct himself better, if not the media will give him shit! Arsenal is a big club, that’s the reality
I know some people might find this sexist (because women don’t have knobs) but in my opinion the following people are knobs:
Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Danny Murphy
Michael Owen
Danny Murphy
Grahame Souness
Michael Owen
And I mean it in a caring way…feel free to add to the list…?
Also Maureen is a race/gender non specific Wank Blaster imho. Off to bed now gnite x ?
Fake news or alternative facts, perhaps??
We dont really know what went on we wasnt there, if the lady was told what the player had said to her then may be he would of been charged ,we dont know how she took it.Now lets ko saints out the cup .