Last Updated: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 11:21
Manchester City have blasted the BBC for publishing an article which they claim has distorted the words of Patrick Vieira.
Dan Roan, the reporter who conducted the interview with their Football Development Executive, has now been banned by the club, while the former City midfielder himself says he is very disappointment by the story.
The Frenchman spoke to Roan at the GMEX Convention Centre on Wednesday afternoon, where he was representing Football Against Hunger, a campaign to tackle starvation in Africa.
He was quizzed on City's title run-in and the challenge of rival Manchester United, and appeared to indicate that the reigning champions were getting preferential treatment from referees.
However, Vieira is adamant that his remarks have been taken out of context and quickly issued a statement on the club's official website to clarify the situation.
The ex-Arsenal star said: "I am very angry with Dan Roan. I feel he has misrepresented me. I made it clear in the interview twice that I wanted to avoid criticising United and even stated that I didn't watch the United game against Fulham and had not seen the incident to which the reporter referred.
"That part of the interview was ignored and my comments were taken completely out of context. I called the reporter twice to ask for a retraction and an apology which has not come.
"I feel Dan Roan and the BBC have shown a complete lack of respect for me, the 'Football Against Hunger' charity and Manchester City Football Club."
The BBC's failure to remove the article in question, or even to issue an apology, has left City with no option but to take action against the reporter.
Chief Communications Officer, Vicky Kloss, said: "Despite the Charity arranging the interview with Dan Roan for the purposes of promoting the Football Against Hunger campaign, the reporter pursued a leading and aggressive line of questioning, through which Patrick was very careful to tread a diplomatic path.
"A misrepresentative article by Dan Roan appeared on the BBC's website a short time later which omitted significant comments of clarification and took the interview completely out of context.
"Manchester City promotes a positive and welcoming approach to media outlets, however it is felt, in the absence of any correction or apology that there is no option but to issue an immediate ban to Dan Roan from future media activity."
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