Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta avoids FA punishment following comments after Newcastle United defeat

Mikel Arteta has been cleared by the FA after a charge against the Arsenal boss for comments following The Gunners’ controversial defeat to Newcastle United last month was found “not proven”.

Anthony Gordon struck after an hour as The Magpies beat Arteta’s side 1-0 to end their unbeaten start to the Premier League season.

There were three separate incidents in the lead-up to the goal which were checked by VAR, including a possible ball out of play before a potential foul on defender Gabriel Magalhaes, as well as an offside check on goalscorer Gordon.

However, VAR did not feel there was enough evidence to intervene and stuck with the onfield decision to award the goal, which Arteta later labelled a “disgrace” and “embarrassing” during his post-match press conference.

Arteta was issued a misconduct charge by the FA in the days following the match for his comments which “constituted misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute.”

On Thursday - nearly six weeks after the defeat to Newcastle - Arteta was cleared by an Independent Regulatory Commission..

A statement from the FA 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.”

Speaking after the Newcastle defeat in November, Arteta said: "It is embarrassing, it’s an absolute disgrace, that’s what it is, a disgrace. There’s so much at stake, we’ve put in so many hours to compete at the highest level and you cannot imagine the amount of messages we’ve had saying this cannot continue.

“It’s not acceptable, there’s too much at stake. I don’t want to be in the hands of these people. I don’t know how to feel. I’m wasting my time, we are wasting our time. It’s difficult enough to compete against Newcastle – they are a really good team, but we have to talk about how the hell this goal stood. It’s an absolute disgrace it was allowed. For more than one reason it should not be a goal.

“I have been in this country more than 20 years and [the officiating] is nowhere near the level of the best league in the world. I feel sick to be part of this. I feel sick. It’s not a goal, it’s not a goal.”

In the written reasons for the decision, Arteta had argued that the word “disgrace” is similar to the Spanish word “desgracia”, which suggests misfortune or bad luck rather than contempt.

The former midfielder was recently punished for his behaviour after he was forced to watch Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa from the stands at Villa Park.

He had accumulated his third yellow card of the season during a dramatic victory over Luton Town four days earlier following Declan Rice’s 97th-minute goal in a 4-3 win, which triggered a one-game touchline ban.

Arteta will return to the dugout for Arsenal’s home match against Brighton & Hove Albion on Sunday as The Gunners look to regain their position at the top of the table.

Brighton are chasing a third-straight victory in the Premier League at Emirates Stadium.

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