Football: Gunners boss won’t play passport problem star

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has banned new Lithuanian striker Tomas Danilevicius from playing for the club until a British Home Office investigation into fake passport allegations is complete.

And if it is proved that Danilevicius, registered with Arsenal as a Greek national, is in England under false pretences Wenger insists: ‘‘We will not keep him.’’

Danilevicius, born in Moscow, presented a Greek passport when he arrived at Highbury to sign from Swiss club FC Lausanne last month.

Wenger had hesitated over signing him six months earlier because with only a Lithuanian passport at that time, it was envisaged the player would have difficulties obtaining a British work permit.

But a Greek passport makes him an EU citizen entitled to play in England and he has already made three Arsenal appearances as a substitute including the third round of the FA Cup at Carlisle.

Doubts have since been raised about his new credentials and Wenger is still haunted by the problems he had signing £6m Brazilian star Edu who was turned back from Heathrow Airport last July when immigration officers discovered his Portuguese passport was a forgery.

That matter was solved only two weeks ago when Edu obtained Portuguese nationality through his grandfather, but Wenger is wary about 21-year-old Danilevicius.

Wenger said: ‘‘Tomas told us he has family in Greece and I’ve seen the Greek ID card that he has but if it turns out that the passport is not correct we will not keep him here.

‘‘At the moment I will not be involving him in any more Arsenal matches because once people start saying the passport is wrong then we have to check. We cannot just ignore it.

‘‘When players arrive here we send their passports to the Football Association in good faith. If we check out all the passports ourselves we might as well check every detail of everybody else’s life. I don’t think that is our obligation.

‘‘But now that this doubt has been raised I will be more wary of signing players from certain parts of the world in future.

‘‘Tomas knows all about this and does not seem concerned but I don’t believe it would be right to play him again until he is cleared.’’

Wenger is aware that over 70 imported players in his native France are currently under investigation there over passport problems. Recently St Etienne were docked seven points for fielding an ineligible Ukrainian goalkeeper.

But Arsenal have been assured that neither the Premier League nor the FA would take action against them even if it is proved that Danilevicius has false documents.

Wenger said: ‘‘St Etienne were punished in France because they were accused of obtaining the false documents themselves. That is not the case with us.

‘‘There was a big problem with Edu even though we knew he was entitled to the right passport.

‘‘Somebody, an agent perhaps, tried to hurry the matter along a little bit so that the you can see exactly how they have missed it this season.’’

But Arsenal have now slipped to third in the Premiership, 15 points behind leaders Manchester United after just two wins in their last seven League games and Wenger admits it is important to put a major trophy on the sideboard after two seasons without one.

‘‘I have to aim to be successful every year and that means winning things.

‘‘We face a tricky tie tomorrow against a team that in this game will be under no pressure and will have three or four former Arsenal players probably enjoying the opportunity to show they deserve to still be here.’’

Arsenal’s former QPR goalkeeper David Seaman expects a few jeers from the Loftus Road crowd even though it is more than 10 years since he left Loftus Road for Highbury in a £1.3m deal.

‘‘That’s part and parcel of the game but I like to think people can understand why I just wanted to join a bigger club.’’

Seaman has established himself as England number one in his time at Arsenal and even at 37 still dismisses suggestions he is thinking about retiring from international football even though skipper Tony Adams, 34, did so last week.

Seaman said: ‘‘I think I can keep both things going for a while yet. I’ll know when it is time to retire and the day I do that at international level is the day I’ll retire completely.’’

Both Seaman and Adams are set to sign extensions to their current Arsenal contracts within the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Wenger who shows no sign of negotiating a new Highbury deal himself because of his fears that club football could become a circus in Europe if the transfer system is disbanded, has again been linked with the national coach’s job in Japan who co-host the next World Cup finals in 2002.

The Japanese FA have moved quickly to dismiss the speculation, however, and Wenger says: ‘‘I still have a job to do at Arsenal for at least one and a half years and I remain committed to that.

‘‘Many managers in the Premiership are in the same position as me with one and a half years left on their contracts and nobody asks the question which I always answer the same way.’’