By Alex Miller
at Leaders in Football, London
5 October 2011
Kia Joorabchian, the man who formerly ‘owned’ Carlos Tevez and continues to act as his representative, has blamed an interpreter for incorrectly translating the Manchester City striker’s comments after the infamous ‘strike’ incident in Munich last week.
Tevez was initially reported to have said: “I did not feel right to play, so I did not”.
But Joorabchian has claimed today at the Leaders in Football conference in London that the striker had been misquoted.
Such a stance is necessary for consistency’s sake because Tevez later denied he had refused to play in the match. His actions have led to an internal MCFC investigation and could lead to fines and punishment for Tevez.
But Joorabchian’s claim today is at odds with independent translation of Tevez’s post-match comments.
The BBC Sport journalist Richard Conway (@richard_conway on Twitter), for example, had Tevez’s post-match remarks independently translated and Tevez said:
“I felt that it wasn’t suitable that I go on because my head wasn’t in the right place.”
and
“No, no, it’s just that I didn’t want to go in becasue I thought I was unwell I wasn’t emotionally well and I thought it better not to.”
Joorabchain today added that he could not predict what the striker wants to do next as the club continues to investigate the issue during the Champions League group defeat to Bayern Munich last week.
City paid around £45m to Joorabchian and associates to buy Tevez, although there are suggestions it may have been as high as £47m.
Joorabchian claims: “He [Tevez] has been judged and condemned before the case has been looked into. City and Carlos are in a difficult position. But I know that since Carlos has moved his family to Manchester he has felt comfortable again.”
Tevez spoke in the summer on an Argentine talk show about how much he hated Manchester and how boring it was.
The former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes – also now represented by Joorabchian – told sportingintelligence: “It is a very difficult situation and I hope for a speedy resolution to the problems whatever they are. The club and player need a quick outcome.
“It will be a shame for Man City if he leaves and for the Premiership in general if he is lost to another league. We all want to see the best players playing in the Premiership.”
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