Arsenal has dismissed the alleged food poisoning incident after several key players had to quit from the friendly match with Bayern Munich in Shanghai on July 19 due to sickness, which was found to have been caused by hot weather instead.
In spite of winning 3-2 on penalties, the club's manager Arsene Wenger said that food poisoning ravaged the camp, making preparations for the game far from ideal.
"Ramsey finished the game (feeling) bad and Walcott, Kolasinac, Mertesacker, Giroud, they all had a little food poisoning," Wenger was quoted as saying by AFP. He added that the club did not know what caused the poisoning.
Olivier Giroud was first out due to the sickness, followed by captain Per Mertesacker minutes before kick-off, then Sead Kolasinac, Aaron Ramsey, and Theo Walcott.
The next day an official with the club explained that it was the hot weather—and not food—that caused the sickness.
"I've got some good news for you about the players. Many have mentioned it that some of us have been ill last night. It's turned out that that is just a minor stomach bug. They have nothing to do with the food they've been eating. A lot of them have been doing the hard training. They've been doing it in a very hot weather, because it's a lot hotter here than in London. They are fine now," a man who appeared to be an official from Arsenal said in an video interview with Oriental Sports Daily.
Wenger had also admitted that the hot weather in Shanghai – which saw temperatures as high as 36 degrees Celcius on July 19 – was a shock, especially as the team flew from Australia where it's winter.
Meanwhile, Gu Tong, head of Arsenal's China office, also explained on Sina Weibo that the reaction of some players should be called climate sickness, not food poisioing, as they could not adapt to the weather in Shanghai.
