Mikel Arteta learns outcome of FA misconduct ban appeal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has beaten an FA charge for alleged misconduct for comments he made following his team's defeat to Newcastle last month.

The Gunners lost the game due to a controversial goal from Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon in the second half. Arteta later lambasted the decision for the decisive goal to stand, repeatedly using words such as "disgrace" and "embarrassing" across three post-match interviews.

The Arsenal boss denied the charge brought against him and, following a hearing, the FA issued a statement confirming the case has been dropped with no ban or other punishment.

"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 governing body explained.

"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."

In the relevant edition of Match Officials: Mic'd Up, in which conversations between the referee and VAR are made public, PGMOL chief Howard Webb had been satisfied with the decision and process.

In extensive written reasons, it was noted that Arteta was an "impressive" witness and it was eventually ruled that his comments: "a) Did not insult the Match Officials (or Premier League match officials generally). Nothing was said by MA in any of the Interviews that implies incompetence on their part, whether in relation to the Goal or more generally; b) Did not bring the game into disrepute; c) Were not detrimental to the best interests of the game."

Weakness in the VAR system and the Premier League's acknowledgement of that following a controversial game between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in September was also noted in the overall summary.

Arteta's defence additionally included two previous cases which it was argued demonstrated that disciplinary bodies had accepted that refereeing decisions and standards could legitimately be criticised. These were the FA vs Jose Mourinho in 2014 and Neymar and PSG vs UEFA in 2020.

The latter decision had noted: "If one wants football to stir emotions, people must also have the freedom – of course within certain limits – to discuss match-deciding decisions, even with emotions riding high. In particular, it must be possible for a player to state that he thinks the decision in question to be wrong."

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