FA clears Arsenal’s Arteta over VAR rant in Newcastle defeat

Mikel Arteta has been cleared of a charge made by the Football Association following post-match comments he made following Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United last month.

The 41-year-old was furious after Anthony Gordon's 64th-minute goal was allowed despite three separate VAR checks for the ball potentially being out of play, a foul and an offside in the build-up.

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Speaking immediately after the match, Arteta said: “It's a shame. It's embarrassing. That's how I feel and that's what everyone feels in there. [dressing] bedroom. You can't imagine the number of messages we receive saying this cannot continue. It's embarassing. I'm sorry, it's embarrassing.

“I feel sick. This is how I feel. I feel sick being a part of this. It's not enough and we can't accept this.”

The FA charged Arteta with a breach of Rule E3.1 — that his comments constituted misconduct in that they were insulting to match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute — but an independent commission ruled that is “not proven” following an investigation during which Arteta attended a personal hearing.

In the written reasons accompanying the decision, Arteta is described as an “impressive witness” who successfully argued that his comments focused on a wider frustration with the VAR process rather than a match official.

It read “[In the post-match interviews] MA expressed his frustration with the VAR decision and the quality of refereeing and VAR decision-making in the Premier League.

“He did not descend into language that was insulting or disparaging of particular officials, nor into language that reflected anything other than his reasonable view, supported by others, that VAR's decision-making and refereeing standards need to be improved.'”

It is also revealed that former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock, who now plays for Newcastle, told his ex-teammates that he thought the ball had gone out in the build-up to Gordon's goal and that Arteta’s use of the word “shame” had been right. a different meaning in the associated Spanish word.

“The word 'disgrace' used by MA in interviews “has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish word 'desgracia'…the Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of its English equivalent which suggests contempt, dishonor or a lack of respect,” continue the written reasons.

“While the English meaning could lead to interpretations of abuse or insult, this was not the intended meaning of the comments.”

Arteta is also said to have made “tremendous efforts as he has done in the past”. [and continues to make] work with other stakeholders [including the PGMOL and the Chief Refereeing Officer]with the aim of improving the standards of match referees [including VAR officiating] in the Premier League” and that he was “frustrated that such efforts [on his part and by others] had “failed to produce significant improvements” in these standards. »