The furore behind Carlos Tevez’s failure to come on as a substitute in Manchester City’s Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich was down to a mistranslation rather than a refusal to take part, according to his advisor Kia Joorabchian.
Tevez is currently serving a two-week suspension while City chiefs carry out an investigation into manager Roberto Mancini’s allegation that the Argentine star ignored his instruction to go on during last week’s 2-0 loss in Germany.
During a post-match television interview in Munich, Tevez appeared to admit his guilt when he said: “I did not feel right to play, so I did not.”
But his advisor Joorabchian, speaking at the Leaders in Football conference in London on Wednesday, claimed the translation of the questions put to Tevez were not accurate.
“One thing you can’t criticise him for is his commitment when he’s on the pitch,” Joorabchian said (with a straight face). “You can never criticise him for not wanting to play.”
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