Eduardo Ban Revoked

Arsenal striker Eduardo just wants to focus on Wednesday's Champions League clash against Standard Liege after his two-match ban was annulled by UEFA.

The Croatia forward was initially suspended for allegedly diving to win a penalty against Celtic in their Champions League qualifier at the Emirates at the end of August.

Eduardo successfully converted the spot-kick himself and the Gunners went on to win the game 3-1.

Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith was quick to call for action against Eduardo and UEFA subsequently began an investigation, which Gunners boss Arsene Wenger lambasted as a "witch-hunt".

The Premier League club lodged an appeal against the ban which would have ruled the player out of the games against Standard Liege as well as the home match with Olympiacos in a fortnight.

However, UEFA have now announced the ban has been quashed and the 26-year-old has welcomed the end of the episode.

A statement from the Croatia international on Arsenal's website read: "I'm very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth. All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better.

"I certainly feel relieved now. I have had great support from my family, friends and of course everyone at the club.

"Now I just want to forget about this and think about our match against Standard Liege on Wednesday. I was always prepared for the match in Belgium because I had good feeling and I always remained positive about the outcome.

"Now we have a final result, I can now look forward to helping the team on Wednesday night.

"All I remember of the incident is that as soon as I had possession of the ball I headed towards goal at full speed. I was very close to the Celtic keeper and felt contact on my foot and then lost my balance. I know perhaps more than anyone else that when you have contact at speed it can be dangerous.

"I just want to say that I'm a fair player. To score goals you must take your opportunities and I'm not the type of player who needs to be dishonest to score goals."

The north London club had been furious with the initial ban and welcomed UEFA's action.

A statement read: "We are grateful that the appeal body focused on the evidence and made the right decision in this case.

"We were able to show that there was contact between the goalkeeper and Eduardo and that the decision of the UEFA disciplinary body should be annulled.

"We fully support the drive for fair play in football and believe it is important that UEFA provide clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced going forward.

"We are glad to put this incident behind us and concentrate on the games ahead."

UEFA had earlier announced their final decision on www.uefa.com, saying: "The UEFA Appeals body today accepted the appeal lodged by Arsenal FC against the two-match suspension handed to striker Eduardo.

"Following examination of all the evidence, notably the declarations of both the referee and the referees' assessor, as well as the various video footage, it was not established to the panel's satisfaction that the referee had been deceived in taking his decision on the penalty.

"Therefore, the decision of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body of 1 September, in which the player was suspended for two UEFA club competition matches, is annulled."