Gary Neville has accused Mikel Arteta of “inflaming” claims referees have a bias against Arsenal following the online abuse directed towards Michael Oliver this week.
Oliver dismissed Gunners full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 1-0 win at Wolves on Saturday with the decision later overturned on appeal by the Football Association.
After the game, Arteta said he was “fuming” with the inevitable pile-on on social media prompting the police to place a squad car outside Oliver’s home after threats were made towards his family.
Neville admitted his club Manchester United were also guilty of openly criticising officials during his playing days but feels social media has shifted the boundaries on what is acceptable.
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Refs are not getting bought off – Neville
He 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 won’t ref Arsenal this weekend
Oliver was overlooked for Arsenal’s game with Manchester City at the weekend and has instead been assigned the Ipswich v Southampton fixture.
Neville added: “I hate the idea of a referee being taken off a game.
“He is the best referee in the country and the idea that he would go into that game on Sunday and be swayed towards Manchester City…he’s not going to do that, he’s a professional.”
Arteta wants to end the hate
Speaking on Tuesday ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League game at Girona, Arteta says all forms of hate in football need to be stamped out.
He said: “Every time I talk about this topic [my view] is the same, regardless of whether it is a player or a coach or a referee. We have to really work harder to try to eradicate that part of the game that brings nothing but bad stuff, bad taste and it makes people’s lives more difficult.
“It should not be permitted. We don’t want it, we don’t need it, it can only damage our sport, so let’s get it out.
“We’re always putting a lot of emphasis on evolving, on where football is going in the next five, 10 years, on the rules, and all that sort of thing. But one of the most important things we can do to evolve is create an environment that’s much better at a social level, one that’s healthier, that’s nicer, in which we reward things that are not only winning, that when people make mistakes they have the chance to make amends.
“We shouldn’t be here with this hatred, these things we see, because they affect everyone and in the end they take away the joy of this sport, the reason for it – which is to enjoy ourselves, have good moments.
“[We have to] spend more time making the right decisions with the right people to get it out. Then, the same as we have put laws and measures and regulation and that kind of thing … they do that, why haven’t we done it [with this]? We are all talking about it, but no one seems to be moving strongly enough and bringing people with them to get that out of the game, because it’s just unacceptable.”
