English FA asks Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to explain doping comments

New Delhi: The English Football Association (FA) on Thursday has asked Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to explain his recent comments on doping.

According to British media, Frenchman has been invited by the FA to provide any further information he may have.

In an interview with French daily L'Equipe, the 66-year-old said that he had never instructed his players to take performance-enhancing substance, but at the same breath, hinted that he had come up against opposition who might have done so.

Interestingly, Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Arijan Ademi who played the whole match failed a drug test following their UEFA Champions League win over Arsenal in October. Arsenal were beaten 2-0 in Zagreb.

Wenger, who is known to be a staunch advocate of stern drug testing is football, went onto say that, "I try to be faithful to the values that I find important in life and to transmit them to others.”

“In 30 years of my coaching career, I never got one of my players injected to be more efficient. I never gave them a product that can improve performance. It is about pride. I’ve played against a lot of teams that were not in this state of mind,” Wenger added.

Doping and it's ugly head rose once again in recent weeks, reports of Russian atheletics federation running a systematic doping programme. In fact, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has been reeling under the doping scandal.

The FA said in a statement: "The FA, in conjunction with United Kingdom Anti-Doping (Ukad), operates one of the most comprehensive anti-doping testing programmes in the world.

"We have exceptionally few cases of positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, which reflects the findings from drug-testing in football worldwide.

"All positive cases for Wada-prohibited substances are published by Ukad and the FA."