Boos, Protest Votes at Arsenal AGM

Disgruntled Arsenal supporters opposed the re-election of chairman Chips Keswick and director Josh Kroenke amid rowdy scenes at the club’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

Chief executive Ivan Gazidis was also heckled as he defended the way the club was run and outlined why Arsenal had reappointed manager Arsene Wenger on a two-year deal this year despite unrest among fans.

Around 200 individual shareholders attended the meeting at Emirates Stadium after Arsenal Supporters Trust announced its intention to oppose resolutions because of “dissatisfaction at the current ownership and governance arrangements”.

Votes to reappoint Keswick and director Josh Kroenke were rejected on a show of hands, forcing a formal vote via distributed cards, with both men eventually winning re-election following support from Arsenal’s two major shareholders.

Significantly, Alisher Usmanov, the club’s second largest shareholder, decided against joining what Arsenal Supporters Trust said on Twitter was an unprecedented protest at an AGM.

At the meeting, Gazidis came under scrutiny with the board asked to justify his £2.6 million salary, including a one millionpound bonus.

“Ivan is doing a fantastic and first-class job leading the development of this club across every aspect of its operations,” Keswick said.

“It is important the remuneration of all the club’s management remains competitive in order to attract and retain talent. In this regard, our CEO’s pay is comparable to clubs of a similar stature.”

Gazidis defended the club’s approach in allowing the contracts of leading players Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to run down and said the board had made huge resources available for transfers.

“All resources are made available for investment. We’ve broken the club transfer record multiple times and did it again with (Alexandre) Lacazette,” who cost £42.5 million from Olympique Lyonnais.