Mikel Arteta has been cleared by an independent Regulatory
Commission after he was charged by the FA for his post-match comments after Arsenal's
defeat to Newcastle.
The Arsenal manager was charged with FA rule E3.1 after he
criticised the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's winning goal for Newcastle on
November 4 in an interview with Sky Sports.
"It's a disgrace," Arteta told Sky Sports.
"It's embarrassing. That's how I feel and that's how everybody feels in
that [dressing] room. You cannot imagine the amount of messages we've got
saying this cannot continue. It's embarrassing. I'm sorry, embarrassing."
"I feel sick. That's how I feel. I feel sick to be part
of this. It is not good enough and we cannot accept that."
The FA alleged Arteta's comments constituted misconduct in
that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game
and/or brought the game into disrepute. However, the independent Regulatory
Commission found that the charge was not proven.
The goal had three key talking points - whether Newcastle's
Joe Willock had taken the ball out of play in the build-up to the goal, whether
Joelinton fouled Gabriel in assisting the goal, and whether Gordon was offside
before scoring.
The FA's written reasons for Arteta avoiding a charge said he
only had two issues with the goal - the foul on Gabriel and whether the ball
went out of play.
Arteta did not mean to insult with his use of the word
'disgrace' as the Spanish word 'desgracia' has a different meaning to the
English word
Arteta has made "considerable efforts" to improve
VAR with the PGMOL and other stakeholders, as the technology is "below
necessary standards"
Arteta attended a "wholly unproductive" meeting
with the PGMOL on November 2 - two days before the Newcastle game
In his evidence, Arteta revealed that Willock, who used to
play under Arteta, told the Arsenal players that the ball had indeed gone out
of play
The FA charged Arteta for using improper language despite
using the same 'highlighted words' as other managers who had not been charged
Sky Sports News understands the FA will not appeal against
the decision of the independent Regulatory Commission that cleared Arteta of
the misconduct charge he faced.
Either side has the right to appeal against a commission
decision, but any appeal has to be lodged within a certain time frame of the
decision, and that deadline has now passed.
The FA wrote to Arteta through Arsenal to express its
"concern" with his post-match comments at St James' Park in three
separate interviews.
In one of the examples, Arteta said: "It's embarrassing
what happens and how this goal stands, in the Premier League, in what we say is
the best league in the world.
"We really have to think about that deeply. Because I
have been 20 years in this country and now I feel ashamed. It's an absolute
disgrace. You look at it on the TV and it's an absolute disgrace."
In his response, the Arsenal manager explained that part of
his interview had been lost in translation because the English
"disgrace" has a different meaning to the Spanish 'desgracia'.
He wrote: "[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 of the comments."
Source: skysports
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