THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON — Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has appealed for privacy after a British newspaper carried a front-page story alleging he had an affair with a French singer.
Saturday’s edition of the Sun published pictures of the married 61-year-old Frenchman meeting a woman it identified as 39-year-old Sonia Tatar on Thursday in Paris. The paper alleged the two have had a two-year relationship.
Wenger said in a statement that "this is a very serious matter. I do not intend to make any comment and wish to deal with the matter privately."
Arsenal says it considers the allegations to be a "strictly a private matter and we ask that the privacy of Arsene and his family be respected."
Wenger has been the Arsenal manager since 1996.