Brighton & Hove Albion head coach Roberto De Zerbi has escaped punishment from the FA, showing inconsistency when it comes to Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta.
Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi has escaped punishment from the FA despite his damning marks on refereeing in the Premier League. After the Seagulls drew 1-1 against Sheffield United earlier this month, De Zerbi slammed the officiating in a passionate post-match rant.
“I am honest and clear. I don’t like 80 per cent of England’s referees,” the Italian said. “It’s not new.
I don’t like them. I don’t like their behaviour on the pitch.”
But the Brighton boss was only warned by the FA for his actions, escaping a charge, a decision that will leave Arsenal fans fuming considering Mikel Arteta didn’t share the same fate.
The Spaniard was charged by the FA for voicing his frustrations with the refereeing during his side’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United.
The only goal of the game was scored by Magpies winger Anthony Gordon, with VAR checking the goal for three possible offences before it was eventually given. Similarly, Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes should have been sent off for hitting Jorginho on the head with his forearm.
In his post-match interview, an incandescent Arteta said: “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 embarrassing. It’s not acceptable, there’s too much at stake.”
Clearly, the Gunners head coach was annoyed and his comments were perhaps a tad overboard. But he doesn’t appear to have said anything much worse than De Zerbi.
It seems like the fact that Arteta’s remarks were more of a talking point in the media was used as a stick to beat him with. His criticism was perhaps more of a talking point on TV and social media than his Brighton counterpart, but why should that be used against him?
Claims of bias against Arsenal are overboard, but it is more than fair to criticise the FA’s inconsistent decision-making.
Arteta is to be given more time to respond to the FA charge The Arsenal boss initially had until Tuesday, November 21 to respond to this charge.
However, he will now have until today (Friday, November 24). Once the Spaniard has responded, the FA will then make a decision on the level of punishment that Arteta is likely to face.