UEFA president Michel Platini hit out at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on Wednesday for remarks the Gunners coach made blaming Thierry Henry's injury-plagued season on poor management by the France national team.

Wenger blasted the France management for not giving Henry the adequate rest after their team went all the way to the World Cup finals last summer.

However, Wenger's main grievance stems from the international friendly between France and Bosnia, in which Henry played 90 minutes, on August 16 - three days before the start of the Premiership season.

"I don't understand how Thierry Henry was injured in March due to a match he played in Bosnia in August," explained Platini.

"I am not a physiotherapist, but I can't understand how he can be injured because of a match six months ago."

Henry has sustained a number of injuries throughout the domestic season, and has now been ruled out for the rest of Arsenal's campaign with groin and stomach trouble suffered against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

The French tactician risked fielding the 29-year-old striker against the Dutch giants last week and later said: "I don't take responsibility for that (his injury) because I feel Thierry has been badly managed by the French national team."

Fences to be scrapped

UEFA president Michel Platini also said that European Union governments should get rid of fences in all stadiums across the 27-member bloc as part of new EU standards for sports.

Platini's call comes a day after EU sports ministers proposed strengthening security measures at sports events in the EU, including new EU-wide standards for stadiums and security personnel.

"I'm totally against fences, but these issues are dealt with by the governments and local authorities. I would like to see them removed," Platini told a briefing in London.

Manchester United fans were caught in a crush at a recent Champions League match between their team and French club Lille in the city of Lens, sparking criticism from Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA.

Blatter blamed the fences at Lens's Felix-Bollaert Stadium for the heightened danger while Platini recalled that as co-president of France's 1998 World Cup organising committee he tried to persuade Lens to remove them.

"When you cage people in they react like animals and I don't mean that in a nasty way, but the instinct is to fight your way out," Platini said.

(China Daily via AFP/Agencies March 15, 2007)