Mikel Arteta charged by FA over referee rant after Newcastle defeat
The Football Association have charged Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta over his rant against the referees following his side’s controversial 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.
Anthony Gordon netted the winner on the day and sparked a furious wave of criticism from Arteta and Arsenal fans for finishing off a move which required VAR checks for both the ball going out of play and a potential foul by Joelinton on Gabriel Magalhaes.
Arteta branded the decision “disgraceful” and claimed to be “embarrassed and ashamed” by the officiating of the game, and the FA have now charged the Arsenal boss for his comments.
“Mikel Arteta has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1 following comments that he made in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Saturday 4 November,” a statement read.
“It’s alleged that his comments constitute misconduct as they are insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or bring the game into disrepute.
“Mikel Arteta has until Tuesday 21 November to provide a response to this charge.”
Despite Arteta’s protestations, PGMOL chief Howard Webb, who oversees the group in charge of all officiating in England, defended the decision to allow the goal.
“We see the ball getting very close to the goal line, don’t forget we’ve got an assistant referee who was right in line,” he told Sky Sports’ Match Officials: Mic’d Up. “The ball does not have a lot of pace as it goes to the goal line, so he is looking right along the goal line, better than any of our cameras.
“We know the ball is curved so it can be overhanging the line and we need evidence that it is out. The ball comes over and Joelinton challenges Gabriel. It could be a foul, it might be a foul. The VAR decides the evidence from the footage isn’t clear enough to intervene for a review for a clear error. The fact opinion is split after a lot of analysis since the situation suggests that was correct non-intervention because of that subjectivity.
“And then one of those unusual situations where the ball goes between two players and trying to identify exactly when the ball leaves Joelinton is really difficult to establish. So again, no conclusive evidence that Gordon was offside when the ball was last touched to him. The VAR went through that diligently and identified no clear evidence to intervene to overturn the goal. The process actually was correct.”
