Wenger says Arsenal at fault for Sanchez missing doping test

Arsene Wenger is opting for honesty rather than keeping quiet.

On Friday, Wenger said Alexis Sanchez's missed drug test was Arsenal's fault, suggesting the Gunners failed to inform the Football Association that the Chilean attacker was absent. The French manager confirmed the test was missed while the Cobreloa product was finalising a move to Manchester United with his agent, but admitted there's "nothing to hide."

United signed Sanchez from Arsenal on Monday as Henrikh Mkhitaryan moved in the opposite direction.

"The most important is that the intention is right," Wenger said, according to the Guardian. "The intention of Alexis was certainly not to hide - nor was our intention to hide anything. We have nothing to hide."

"It is a special day for Alexis Sanchez because you have to do paperwork, you have to travel and is he still our player on Monday or not? You don't know with negotiations going on. I think it's a special event for him to miss a drug test because he was certainly busy somewhere else with his agent. Overall he has been tested so many times here that it is no worry for me that he has any doping problem. It's just a bad day for him to be tested. Honestly on the administration side it would certainly be our responsibility because on the day he had not moved so maybe it will be down to us. I don't really know what happened."

The FA Anti-Doping Programme dictates that English football's governing body be notified of a footballer's whereabouts if the player will be absent from a scheduled training session. The notification must include where the footballer will be for at least one hour during the day he's absent. If the FA isn't able to easily find the footballer at the time and location that's stated, it could result in a missed drug test and a suspension.