Mikel Arteta avoided a touchline ban for his post match rant following Arsenal’s recent defeat at Newcastle (Picture: Getty)
Mikel Arteta escaped another touchline ban after the Football Association cleared him of misconduct, but only after he received the help of a former Arsenal player.
The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon’s goal to stand in a 1-0 Premier League defeat at Newcastle on November 4 as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”.
Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 – which could have resulted in a ban but has instead been cleared of any wrongdoing.
‘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.’
There were no set sanctions for if Arteta had been found guilty – but a fine or touchline ban would have likely been the outcome.
Anthony Gordon’s goal against Arsenal sparked a furious outburst from Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)
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In defence of their manager, Arsenal cited the fact that Joe Willock, a Hale End Academy graduate, felt the ball had gone out of play in the build-up to Gordon’s matchwinning strike.
Willock told his former teammates as much and when that information was relayed to Arteta it only served to heighten his frustration having watched his team slide to a contentious defeat.
Arteta has since said he would continue to speak out against poor officiating and the use of VAR if he felt the standards were not being met.
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.”
Despite Arteta’s comments at St James’ Park, Professional Game Match Officials Limited chief Howard Webb later said the process to award Gordon’s goal had been correct and VAR had been right in not overruling the on-field call.
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A nice assist!