Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has avoided punishment for his comments after the defeat at Newcastle.
The Gunners were beaten following a hugely controversial Anthony Gordon goal at St James’ Park last month. It was checked by VAR for three separate infringements – including the ball potentially going out of play before a potential foul on Gabriel Magalhaes – but to no avail.
Newcastle went on to secure all three points, leaving Arteta seething in his post-match press conference. The Arsenal boss was slapped with a misconduct charge by the FA (rule E3) for making comments that were “insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or bring the game into disrepute.”
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But an independent commission has now found the charge to be unproven after agreeing that it wasn’t Arteta’s intention to insult the match officials. The Spaniard insisted he was in fact acting in the wider interests of the game due to his concerns with VAR.
Arteta had called the decision to allow Gordon’s goal "embarrassing". He added: "How the hell did this goal stand up? It's embarrassing. It’s an absolute disgrace that this goal is allowed to stand. It’s more than one reason. It is a disgrace. It is not a goal, simple. I feel sick to be part of this."
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The independent commission also states Arteta claimed the word ‘disgrace’ has a similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish word ‘desgracia’, which instead relates to misfortune and bad luck.
And the commission also referred to Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham in September, with the Premier League seemingly backing Arteta's argument by acknowledging the current weaknesses with VAR.
A statement from the FA read: "An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven.
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"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."
It will come as a huge relief to Arsenal, who suffered a defeat at Aston Villa last week while Arteta served a one-match touchline ban in the stands. The manager was hit with his third yellow card of the season for ‘over-celebrating’ his side’s last minute winner against Luton Town, resulting in his suspension.
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