As Mikel Arteta criticized the refereeing in Saturday’s Premier League loss to Newcastle United, Arsenal declared that they “wholeheartedly support” him and urged the referee’s authority (PGMOL) to investigate refereeing standards.
Arteta delivered a harsh evaluation of the match officials and the Premier League’s standards, saying he felt “embarrassed” and “sick” following Anthony Gordon’s contentious goal in Newcastle’s 1-0 home victory over his team.
Arsenal suffered their first league loss of the season, but the goal was upheld after VAR took many minutes to determine whether the ball went out of play, whether there was a foul during the build-up, and whether the player was offside.
In response to yet more egregious officiating and VAR blunders on Saturday night, Arsenal Football Club declared in a statement on Sunday that it “wholly supports Mikel Arteta’s post-match comments.”
“With the greatest players, coaches, and fans in the world, the Premier League is the best league in the world, and they all deserve better.
“PGMOL urgently requires to address the standard of officiating & focus on action that leads us all on from retrospective analysis, tried explanations and apologies.”
This season, the PGMOL has been under growing fire following a number of controversial VAR judgments. The most well-known of these was the “human error” that resulted in the disqualification of a genuine Liverpool goal against Tottenham Hotspur.