Mikel Arteta came really close to receiving a ban from the Football Association (FA) for lambasting the officials in Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle United earlier on in the 2023/24 Premier League season.
The Spaniard lost his temper after seeing his side concede a controversial goal, leading up to which it seemed like the ball had gone out of play and that Gabriel Magalhaes was fouled. Arteta went on an enraged tirade in the post-match press conference and was charged by the FA on the basis of ‘misconduct’, for bad-mouthing the officials and the VAR system as a result.
Despite most fans fearing a ban or suspension for their manager, the FA surprised many by releasing a statement recently in which they basically cleared the Arsenal manager of all charges. In the official statement, the FA stated: “An independent Regulatory Commission has found the charge against Mikel Arteta for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3.1 to be not proven. The manager was charged following various comments in media interviews after Arsenal’s Premier League game against Newcastle United on Saturday 4 November.
“It was alleged that his comments constituted misconduct in that they were insulting towards match officials and/or detrimental to the game and/or brought the game into disrepute. The Regulatory Commission came to its decision following a hearing and the full written reasons for this can be found below.”
Arteta turning up to Wembley with his lawyers in their Saville Row suits for his hearing with PGMOL and the FA pic.twitter.com/8PpR1HfLUF
As a result, Arteta managed to avoid being suspended for Arsenal’s upcoming major game at Anfield against Liverpool. However, this statement from the FA came as a surprise for some because a lot of Arsenal fans themselves were fearing the worst for their manager.
It turns out that some smart thinking on the Spaniard’s part might’ve saved him. Fans soon discovered that Arteta had actually managed to appoint a top-level criminal defence lawyer to fight for him in this case.
As per the Athletic, Arsenal’s own legal team is among the standard-setters in the Premier League. They even appointed the help of Ian Mill KC, a member of Blackstone Chambers – which is one of the most respected sports law firms in England – to represent their manager.
It turns out that Mill actually played a prominent role in saving Arteta from potentially major punishment. One of the major arguments that the lawyer made was apparently to redefine the word ‘disgrace’ that the gaffer used to hit out at the officiating.
Apparently, the lawyer indicated that the word had similarities to the Spanish word ‘desgracia’ – which means misfortune. Hence, the lawyer indicated that Arteta did not use that word in an offensive sense but rather a version of the ‘desgracia’ word.
Moreover, another key piece of evidence used by him was the admission of Newcastle United midfielder Joe Willock – who had apparently told some of the Arsenal players after that game that he felt the ball had gone out of the goal line before the goal and that this infuriated Arteta more before the press conference.
Arsenal fans just can’t get enough of the amazing work pulled off by Mill & co in saving their manager from punishment. The lawyer team is gaining a lot of praise among the Gooners, most of whom are comparing him to the infamous ‘Saul Goodman’ from the TV shows ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’.
Goodman earned a reputation for twisting facts to get his guilty clients out of trouble, as Arteta’s lawyer seems to have done for him. The Arsenal manager is now free to carry on with his managerial duties without any tensions over him and he should probably pay his lawyer a bit extra for getting him out of this tough situation.
