Arsenal chaos was cunning German stunt
SHIRT CON FOR TOUTS
SNEAKY German football fans invaded Arsenal’s stadium disguised in Gunners shirts.
Around 20,000 Cologne supporters sparked chaos after descending on the Emirates and storming the turnstiles.
Only 2,900 had tickets for Thursday night’s Europa Cup clash.
But thousands more managed to get into the Arsenal end by posing as Gunners fans and buying tickets from touts.
The kick-off was delayed by an hour as police and stewards struggled to cope when violent scuffles broke out between rival supporters. Five German fans were arrested on suspicion of public order offences.
Fans are said to have paid £100 for tickets – more than five times the face value.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger described the travelling German fans as “very clever”.
A club spokesman said: “Many tickets were sold through touts and this is very disappointing.
Prevent
“We worked in full consultation with police and Uefa officials on the night and in advance of the game and had taken extensive steps in advance to prevent tickets being sold to visiting supporters.
“This included a number of measures including ensuring no tickets were sold via general sale and that no club memberships purchased after the draw could be used to get tickets in the home end.”
Cologne were playing their first European game for 25 years and club chiefs said they could have sold their official ticket allocation 10 times over.
Arsenal came from behind to win 3-1 against the side currently bottom of the Bundesliga.
Uefa have since charged Cologne over the crowd disturbances, including fans setting off fireworks, throwing objects and causing damage to the stadium.
Arsenal have been charged with a breach of safety and security regulations because of a blocked stairway in the away end.