Arteta Cleared Of Misconduct Charge For Referee Rant Against Newcastle Utd
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been cleared of the misconduct charge he was issued with following comments he made about refereeing standards after a defeat to Newcastle United last month.
After the 1-0 defeat to Eddie Howe's side on November 4, the Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's goal to stand as a disgrace and embarrassing.
The goal was deemed legitimate despite a lengthy VAR check to decide whether the ball had gone out of play in the build up to the goal, a foul on Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes on Joelinton and a possible offside by Gordon.
“An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven,” an FA statement read.
“The manager was charged following various comments in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Saturday 4 November.
“It was alleged that his comments constituted misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute.”
In the written reasons for the rule not being proven, it was revealed Arteta claimed that: “The word ‘disgrace’…‘has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish ‘desgracia’…the Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonour or disrespect.
“While the English meaning may lead to interpretations of abuse or insult, this was not the intended meaning.”
Arteta is free to take charge of his Arsenal side against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend, having served a touchline ban for accruing three yellow cards in their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa last weekend.
