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Mikel Arteta has been cleared of a Football Association charge following post-match comments he made after Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United last month.
The 41-year-old, furious after Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 64th minute, allowed despite three separate VAR checks a potentially offside ball, a foul and an offside in the build-up.
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Speaking immediately after the match, Arteta said: “It’s a disgrace. It’s disgraceful. That’s how I feel and that’s how everyone in this dressing room feels. You can’t believe the amount of messages we’ve had saying this can’t go on. ” “It’s embarrassing. I’m sorry, embarrassing. “
“I feel unwell. That’s how I feel. I feel unhealthy from being a component of all of this. It’s not enough and we can’t settle for that. “
The FA accused Arteta of breaching rule E3. 1 (that his comments constituted misconduct in the sense that they insulted referees and/or were negative for the game and/or discredited the game), but an independent committee found that “unproven” following an investigation in which Arteta attended a non-public hearing.
In the written reasons accompanying the decision, Arteta is described as an “impressive witness” who successfully argued his comments focused on a wider frustration with the VAR process rather than targeting a match official.
It said: “[In post-match interviews] MA expressed his frustration with the VAR ruling and the refereeing and VAR ruling making in the Premier League.
“He used language that insulted or denigrated specific officials, nor did it reflect anything other than his moderate view, supported by others, that VAR’s decision-making and refereeing criteria want to improve. “
It is also revealed that former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock, who now plays for Newcastle, told his former teammates that he believed the ball went before Gordon’s goal and that Arteta’s use of the word “embarrassment” was correct. another meaning in the related Spanish word.
“The word ‘misfortune’ used through MA in interviews’ has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to that of the Spanish word ‘misfortune’. . . The Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy, or bad luck than the connotations of its English equivalent recommending contempt, dishonor, or disrespect,” the written designs continue.
“While the English meaning would possibly give rise to interpretations of abuse or insult, this is not the intended meaning of the comments. “
Arteta is also said to have made “the abundant efforts he has made in the past [and continues to make] to work with other stakeholders [including the PGMOL and the head of refereeing], with the aim of better conforming to refereeing standards. “VAR refereeing] in the Premier League” and that he was “frustrated that such efforts [on his and others’] part have ‘failed to produce significant improvements’ to those standards.