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11 months ago
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Mikel Arteta will not be punished for his comments after Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle last month, an FA statement has confirmed.
Arteta was charged by the FA on November 16 for labelling the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's winning goal 'embarrassing' and 'a disgrace' following a VAR check of over four minutes.
But an independent investigation has concluded that he did not breach the FA's rules and will not be sanctioned.
The FA statement on Thursday afternoon 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.'
The FA provided written reasons for the verdict, which included Arteta claiming that his use of the word 'disgrace' had been misinterpreted as a similar word in Spanish has a different meaning.
Mikel Arteta will not be punished for calling the officiating in Arsenal's defeat by Newcastle 'a disgrace'
Newcastle's winning goal was allowed to stand after a VAR check that lasted over four minutes
Arteta was fuming after the final whistle and hit out at the referee, but it has been dtermined that he did not breach the FA's misconduct rules
In Spanish, the word 'desgracia' has connotations of 'misfortune, tragedy or bad luck', while the English word 'disgrace' has connotations of 'abuse or insult'.
Arteta insisted in his response to the FA charge that he had not meant to insult referee Stuart Attwell, and this explanation was accepted by the panel.
The FA raised concerns over Arteta's language in three separate post-match interviews, with the Arsenal boss also saying 'I feel sick to be part of this', 'we are wasting our time' and 'it cannot continue like that'.
A document is provided to managers that outlines reasons they may face disciplinary charges during the season for comments about referees.
Reasons include the implication of bias on the part of a match official, questioning their integrity, personally offensive, abusive or insulting comments or any comments that are detrimental to the game.
Arteta confirmed in his evidence that he was aware of the document and denied breaching the guidelines. The panel accepted this, and following a hearing described Arteta as an 'impressive witness'.
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Arteta was also furious with the officiating in Arsenal's loss at Aston Villa last weekend
Arteta's rant following the loss at St James' Park is not the only time he has been unhappy with the level of officiating in the Premier League this season.
The 41-year-old was visibly fuming after his side were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa last weekend, with Gabriel Jesus being denied a penalty after an apparent kick by Douglas Luiz, while Kai Havertz had a late goal chalked off for handball.
Arteta admitted afterwards that he had a 'big opinion' on the two incidents, but decided to keep it to himself on this occasion, instead repeating the words 'clear and obvious' in his post-match press conference as he strongly hinted that the referees had got both calls wrong.
The Spanish manager watched the match from the stands as he served a touchline ban after receiving three yellow cards for his behaviour in the dugout this season.
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