Arsenal have been charged by the Football Association for their players’ furious reaction to the dismissal of young full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly at Wolves on Saturday.
Lewis-Skelly was dismissed shortly before half-time at Molineux for tripping Matt Doherty as the Wolves full-back carried the ball away from his own penalty area.
Referee Michael Oliver deemed it ‘serious foul play’ – and VAR Darren England opted not to send him to the pitch side monitor for a second look. The red card was later rescinded on appeal.
Arsenal’s players were visibly angered by Oliver’s decision and gathered round the official to argue their case, an action the FA have taken a dim view of.
Regulation and Discipline update on @Arsenal: pic.twitter.com/cXrY4eXM7m
— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) January 30, 2025
A statement today read: “Arsenal FC has been charged after its players surrounded a match official during their Premier League fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers FC on Saturday, 25 January.
“The club allegedly failed to ensure that its players did not behave in an improper manner around the 43rd minute. Arsenal FC has until Monday, 3 February to provide a response.”
Neville unimpressed with Arteta
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was he was “fuming” about the decision after the game and was today accused by Sky pundit Gary Neville of fuelling accusations of referee bias against the Gunners.
Neville told the Stick to Football podcast: “They [Arsenal fans] use language like corruption, which means they think he’s getting paid and bought off – which is obviously not the case.
“We [at Manchester United] lived in a club which created a siege mentality about the referees. Arsenal are doing a bit of that as well – there’s no doubt that what Arsenal do is inflame the situation after the game rather than calm it down, they’ve done that for 12 months – but we can’t say that’s wrong having played in the dressing room that we did.
“The difference is now with social media. When we were playing back in the day and doing similar things with referees, we weren’t inflaming what would be a case of corruption on social media.
“Now you have a sway of Arsenal’s anger, which comes from the players and from Mikel Arteta, and prominent fans. You now have a social media wave which goes towards [allegations of] corruption and cheating. In our day, we couldn’t have that much influence – everyone was at home without a phone, and didn’t have Twitter.”
Oliver received police protection at his home after the game on Saturday following online threats made to him and his family.
