A friendly match between Arsenal and Chelsea on Saturday was delayed briefly after an argument broke out over Olivier Giroud's involvement in the game.
Giroud, who has been linked with possible exits from the Gunners following the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette, was not listed among the substitutes for the match at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, China.
The referee and his assistants initially refused to allow Giroud to enter the action as he was not named in the matchday squad team-sheets.
After several minutes of heated argument, Arsenal did eventually manage to get Giroud on despite not technically being named in the squad.
Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger explained the situation after the game:
The incident summed up the match for the Gunners as they subsided to a disappointing 3-0 defeat.
Giroud, who has been linked with possible exits from the Gunners following the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette, was not listed among the substitutes for the match at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, China.
So, there was a spell of confusion when the French striker tried to enter the field of play as a replacement for Lacazette at the start of the second half.Here is the official team sheet for Arsenal v Chelsea. No Giroud on the bench once again for Arsenal #cfc #AFC pic.twitter.com/cVljsfVvFI
— Oliver Harbord (@ojharbord) July 22, 2017
The referee and his assistants initially refused to allow Giroud to enter the action as he was not named in the matchday squad team-sheets.
After several minutes of heated argument, Arsenal did eventually manage to get Giroud on despite not technically being named in the squad.
Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger explained the situation after the game:
Yes (there was some conflict)!
I don't understand why he was not on the list. They didn't want to let him play, and we of course had a bit of an argument because we announced him.
We finally got the green light from someone in the sky, and he could play.
The incident summed up the match for the Gunners as they subsided to a disappointing 3-0 defeat.
