Referee hits back at Wenger criticism

The referee who reported Arsene Wenger to UEFA for improper conduct after Arsenal’s Champions League exit to AC Milan on Tuesday night has hit back at the Gunners boss and backed his performance, despite the Frenchman’s stinging criticism.

Wenger angrily confronted Damir Skomina, the official from Slovenia, after the final whistle following Arsenal’s 3-0 win over AC Milan.

A Sky Italia reporter claimed that Skomina ran down the tunnel to avoid Wenger and was shouting, “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!’’

And after UEFA announced yesterday that Wenger would be charged with improper conduct, Skomina broke his silence and explained why he reported the Arsenal coach.

“I can’t say too much, but Wenger’s complaints say a lot about him,’’ Skomina said.

“It was a very important game. In our preparations, we considered a lot of different game scenarios and one of them was exactly as it happened in the first half: that Arsenal would go for it, ‘all or nothing’, by putting maximum pressure on Milan players and trying to disrupt their game, and it almost worked for them.

“We had to be careful not to make any mistakes, with the result that someone might say that his team was knocked out because of us.’’