UEFA charges Arsenal and Cologne after fan chaos

London:  European football chiefs charged Arsenal and Cologne yesterday after vast numbers of away fans gained access to the home sections of Emirates Stadium, sparking chaotic scenes that marred the Europa League clash.
Visiting supporters were issued with 3,000 tickets but around 20,000 fans of the German club are believed to have made the journey to the British capital.
The start of Thursday’s Group H match was delayed by around an hour as ticketless Cologne fans tried to gain entry to the ground in north London and there were clearly thousands of away supporters sitting among Arsenal fans, causing a security risk.
The Metropolitan Police said five people had been arrested on suspicion of public order offences and three officers had been injured as a result of the disorder, none of seriously.
Cologne said in a statement that the trouble had occurred because its supporters had been given an insufficient number of tickets while Arsenal said they would launch a “full review” of what happened.
Both clubs now face disciplinary proceedings from governing body UEFA.
Cologne fans are accused of crowd disturbances, setting off fireworks, throwing objects and causing acts of damage, while Arsenal face a probe for “stairways blocked in away supporters sector”.
UEFA said it would deal with the cases on September 21.
The German club, in its statement, said: “Too few places were attributed to FC Cologne supporters because five percent of the total capacity of the stadium was not sufficient. It was predictable that several thousand supporters would try to get into the stadium by any means possible.”
Cologne also criticised security arrangements at the Emirates.
“Despite the immense experience of the London security staff, who are used to Arsenal’s regular European matches, those in charge did not sufficiently prepare for the event.
“The entire security plan and the communication around it appeared to us to be insufficient and there were not enough police on duty.”