Arsene Wenger admits the idea of instructing his players to get themselves deliberately sent off has "crossed his mind". But the Gunners boss insisted that after seeing Real Madrid allegedly do just that in Tuesday's Champions League game at Ajax, he would never contemplate such a "horrible" deceit. Real manager Jose Mourinho and four of his players were this afternoon charged by UEFA with improper conduct following an investigation into events towards the end of the Spanish giants' 4-0 win at the Amsterdam ArenA on Tuesday night. Mourinho stands accused of instructing midfielder Xabi Alonso and defender Sergio Ramos to pick up second yellow cards towards the end of the match. Both were sent off for time-wasting, earning them suspensions for next week's Group G dead rubber against Auxerre and wiping out their disciplinary records ahead of the knockout stage. The duo and team-mates Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek, who allegedly relayed Mourinho's orders, were the four players charged by UEFA. Mourinho has denied issuing such instructions. Wenger today called for European football's governing body to punish the former Chelsea boss and his players if found guilty but admitted such action had occurred to him "You never say that it doesn't cross your mind, and you have to be completely honest about it," he said. "But when you see how it looks on television, I must say, what happened there is the best demonstration to think, 'Never do that again'. "For yourself as well, never envisage to do that because it looks, frankly, horrible." He added: "It crosses your mind if two games later you play the biggest game of the season and you have a meaningless game just after and the players can be suspended." There is no love lost between Wenger and Mourinho from the latter's time in charge at Stamford Bridge, while they could yet resume hostilities in the last 16 of the Champions League. Any extended bans could therefore benefit Arsenal, and Wenger believes some kind of sanction is in order. "It's a pity to see that from a big club," said Wenger, who sidestepped questions about whether it constituted cheating. "You can call it what you want, but it's not what you want to see on a football pitch. "It's always the same: on a football pitch, you want to respect people who pay money to watch a football game. "What they want is to watch football, not to watch these kinds of things. "If it's Arsenal or Real Madrid, or anybody else, you don't want to accept that." Wenger had his own refereeing woes to deal with on Tuesday night, with his side going down 2-0 in their penultimate Champions League Group H game at Braga after being denied what appeared a stonewall penalty. The Frenchman renewed his attack on UEFA's experiment of using additional officials behind the goals. "They are human beings who make mistakes as well," he said. "We have seen as well in some games that they made a wrong decision when the referee had it right at the start." For Wenger, video technology is the only answer. "I've always been for it and you will not be surprised if I do not change my mind," he said. "But I'm ready to accept everything that makes the decision better and that gives help to the referee. "If the fifth official is the answer to it, I'm happy. "But to me, watching all the games I've seen, it does not look at the moment a conclusive answer." Tuesday's defeat was a costly one for Arsenal, who have lost captain Cesc Fabregas to a fresh hamstring injury for what looks like the next two weeks. And Wenger revealed he might have to ration the upcoming appearances of the midfielder, who has endured persistent hamstring problems of late. "We may need to be a bit more cautious with him," said Wenger, who was today awaiting the results of a scan on his skipper. "I will follow what the medical people tell me and Cesc tells me. "If he feels perfectly all right after two weeks then I will play him." Fellow midfielder Emmanuel Eboue, who was carried off on a stretcher in Portugal on Tuesday night, faces between four and eight weeks out with a knee ligament strain. But Robin van Persie should be back in the squad for Saturday's Barclays Premier League game at Aston Villa. u00a0

Arsene Wenger admits the idea of instructing his players to get themselves deliberately sent off has "crossed his mind".

Wenger's pondered the numbers game

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Wenger's pondered the numbers game

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