Mikel Arteta’s epic rant after the Newcastle vs Arsenal game was up there with Kevin Keegan’s at the same venue many years before for Premier League entertainment value.
The Spaniard’s vitriol was directed at those working with VAR, after they failed to disallow Anthony Gordon’s winning goal for the Magpies.
There were three separate checks before the goal was awarded, and Arteta’s fury was clear for all to see.
Arteta was charged in the aftermath of the match for the language used in various media interviews, which amounted to misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute.
As the official Arsenal website note, an independent regulatory commission has decided that the alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven.
Given the strength of Arteta’s opinion after the game, when feelings were clearly running high, perhaps taking that into account is partly why no further action has been taken, though it does set a dangerous precedent.
What will be classed as acceptable language towards officials and VAR in future? Will there be no punishments metered out and it will turn into a vocabularic free for all?
Howard Webb and PGMOL have certainly got their work cut out to keep everyone on side in future.