Fans react to 'disgrace' detail of FA's report that has seen Mikel Arteta avoid ban

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has avoided a ban for his post-match comments after Arsenal’s defeat at Newcastle last month, with the FA providing a detailed report on the verdict.

In his post-match comments, the Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's second-half winner "embarrassing" and a "disgrace" on the evening of November 4.

It was alleged that Arteta's comments constituted misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials, and he was later charged with a breach of FA Rule E3.1.

But a regulatory commission has found the charge against the 41-year-old for an alleged breach of FA rules to be not proven.

The FA have also provided written reasons for the verdict in a 37-page report, which included Arteta claiming that his use of the word 'disgrace' had been misinterpreted.

Arteta said the word has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish ‘desgracia’, which has connotations of 'misfortune, tragedy or bad luck'.

The report states: "The word ‘disgrace’ used by Mikel Arteta in the Interviews ‘has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish ‘desgracia’ … the Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonour or disrespect.

"While the English meaning may lead to interpretations of abuse or insult, this was not the intended meaning of the comments’."

That being said, a footnote in the written reasons said that Arteta would made it clear during a hearing that he had “intended to use the the English word with knowledge of the English meaning of that word”.

He also said that any suggestion to the contrary was the result of “miscommunication" between him and Arsenal when the letter was prepared.

Another interesting detail in the report can be seen in section seven, where it states that Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock had expressed the view that the ball had gone out of play before he crossed it into the penalty area.

Willock, who graduated through Arsenal's academy, was the player involved in keeping the ball in play before Gordon gave Newcastle the lead.

Here is the section in full:

MA [Mikel Arteta] remained in that emotional state following the Match; indeed, his frustration at Arsenal having lost the Match (and having lost it in what he considered to be highly controversial circumstances) was heightened when, immediately following the Match:

a) review of video footage reinforced his belief that that the Goal should not have been allowed to stand in light of either or both of the First and Second Incidents;

b) he was told by certain Arsenal players that Willock (a former Arsenal player) had expressed the view that the ball had gone out of play before he crossed into the penalty area. Those matters increased what MA described as his ‘sense of injustice and frustration’ that the Goal had been allowed to stand."