Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has avoided being punished by the Football Association for comments he made about refereeing after the 1-0 defeat by Newcastle last month.
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Arteta said that the video assistant referee’s decision to allow the Magpies’ winning goal was “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”. After that, he was accused of misconduct. But now, the Football Association has reported that an independent Regulatory Commission has found that the accusation was not proven after a hearing.
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“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”, said the FA in a statement.
However, the commission’s written reasons for not proving the accusation stated that Arteta’s words did not insult the referees specifically, nor their “performances, integrity or impartiality”, and that they were a “personal opinion about a state of affairs” with the VAR.
Arsenal had already suggested that Arteta intended to use the Spanish word “desgracia” with a “different meaning of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck” – rather than “the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonor or disrespect”.
Arteta on the other hand, said that the suggestion had been a “miscommunication” between him and the club when the letter was prepared and that “he had intended to use the English word with knowledge of the English meaning of that word”.