Both Arsenal and FC Koln are likely to face punishment from UEFA for the issues which caused Thursday night's Europa League clash to be delayed by an hour.
Reports have suggested that as many as 20,000 fans made the trip from Cologne to London for what was one of the biggest nights in their club's history, and it seemed very much that the security around The Emirates was simply not expecting so many people to be congregating around the stadium.
While the German club have condemned the acts of those fans who fought with police and Arsenal fans, they have also moved to express their dissatisfaction with how the event was handled, claiming that the organisers and the London police force were 'inadequately equipped' to deal with the influx of away fans in a statement that was released on the club's website this evening.
1. FC Köln is proud that tens of thousands of Colognians wanted to experience the first European FC match in 25 years and made their way to London. The overwhelming majority of our fans have represented the club, the city of Cologne, and German football happily and positively. The London locals and the police shared these feelings on social media leading up to the match.
Due to the enormous demand for tickets, it would have been sensible, not least for security reasons, to allow more than the allocated 5% of stadium capacity to the guest fans. It was apparent that thousands of people from Cologne would seek to avoid the restrictions and get tickets in every way possible. One such way would be through the help of Arsenal supporters, who passed on their tickets to the FC fans. Some as gifts, but some also for horrendous prices. Arsenal FC has described the extent of this second ticket market as “disappointing” and has announced that further clarifications of the circumstances will be evaluated.
Despite 1. FC Köln and Arsenal FC urging fans to purchase tickets only through official channels and not to enter any sections other than the guest section wearing FC merchandise, the situation before the match showed FC fans lining up in various sections to enter the stadium. And also despite the tremendous experience of both the London security forces and Arsenal as a permanent partaker in European football, the organizers were unfortunately not adequately prepared for the task. In our view, the security concept and communication seemed inadequate and the police force too small.
The most important common goal of having the match played on the same evening was achieved by allowing fans with valid tickets to quickly take their seats. This procedure proved to be the correct decision. Finally, the course of the match showed that the mixing of home and away fans did not constitute a safety risk for this match.
1. FC Köln will intensively evaluate and work together with Arsenal FC, the security forces, and the representatives of UEFA to discuss what measures need to be taken to prevent such things, such as the shifted kick off time, in the future.
That said, 1. FC Köln would like to unmistakably make it clear that there is no excuse or justification for the fact that a group of so-called disturbers threatened, insulted, and even attacked stewards and police officers without cause. We distance ourselves from this explicitly. These people are solely responsible for the fact that a football match with a special meaning for an entire region, as well as the courageous effort of our team on the pitch, had to be overshadowed by scenes that had nothing to do with sport and fair play. Although 1. FC Köln is not responsible for the acts of these so-called disturbers, we ask our English hosts to accept our apology.
Some passive-aggressive suggestions in there, but at the end of the day the match was played and both clubs wish to distance themselves from the violence that took place before kick-off.
This is something that the Koln fans also wish to do as they have encouraged Arsenal fans to travel to their city without fear, although the fan who was speaking to The Football Republic couldn't resist a pop at the fact that Arsenal fans were willing to sell their tickets to the German visitors.
Slight dig here from this FC Koln fan... pic.twitter.com/ctMWc1uQke
— TheFootballRepublic (@TheFootballRep) September 15, 2017
[via FC.de]
