Mikel Arteta Charged By FA Regarding Post-Disadvantage Controversial Comments From Newcastle

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has received a Hukum threat from the FA for his criticism of the referee (photo: arsenal.com)

JAKARTA - The English Football Association (FA) has indicted Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for his criticism of the referee after his team's controversial 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, November 4.

Anthony Gordon scored the winning goal in the match and sparked a wave of criticism from Arteta and Arsenal fans. Gordon scored a goal that was passed after VAR's check for the ball allegedly out of the field and there was a potential foul by Joelinton on Gabriel Magalhaes.

Arteta called the decision "embarrassing" and admitted to being "malam and embarrassed" by the implementation of the match. Now the FA has indicted the Arsenal boss for his comments.

"Mikel Arteta has been charged with violating FA Rules E3.1 following comments he made in media interviews after Premier League Arsenal's Premier League match against Newcastle United on Saturday, November 4," the statement read.

"The comments are a violation because they are demeaning to match officials and / or harming the game and / or degrading the game. Mikel Arteta has until Tuesday, November 21 to respond to this indictment," the FA said in a statement.

Despite Arteta's protests, head of PGMOL Howard Webb, who oversees the group responsible for all competitions in England, defended the decision to allow the goal.

"We see the ball very close to the goal line, don't forget we have an assistant referee who is right on par," he told Sky Sports 'Match Officials: Mic'd Up. "Bola doesn't have much speed when approaching the goal line, so he looks along the line, better than our cameras."

"We know the ball is curved so that it can stick out the line. The ball comes and Joelinton challenges Gabriel. It can be a violation, maybe a violation. VAR decides that the evidence from the footage is not clear enough to intervene for a clear error review. The fact that the opinion is divided after a lot of analysis since the situation suggests that it is a non-invention that is true due to subjectivity," he said.

"And then one of the unusual situations where the ball passes two players and tries to identify exactly when the ball leaves Joelinton is really difficult to establish. So again, there is no conclusive evidence that Gordon was offside when the last ball was touched by him. VAR did that carefully and identified no clear evidence for interference to cancel the goal. The process was actually true."