Joorabchian stands by his man

Carlo Tevez did not refuse to play for Manchester City in their Champions League defeat at Bayern Munich, according to his advisor Kia Joorabchian.

Tevez is currently serving a two-week suspension after allegedly disobeying City manager Roberto Mancini's instructions during last week's Group A game. The striker appears to have acknowledged refusing to warm-up but denied refusing to take to the field, a view backed by advisor Joorabchian.

"One thing you can't criticise him for is his commitment when he's on the pitch," Joorabchian told the Leaders in Football conference in London. "You can never criticise him for not wanting to play."

Tevez gave a post-match television interview in which he said: "I did not feel right to play, so I did not."

But Joorabchian claimed the translation of the questions put to Tevez were not accurate.

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