ARSENAL have launched a major security operation to prevent thousands of ticketless Eintracht Frankfurt fans gaining entry to tomorrow’s Europa League clash.
Eintracht’s infamous supporters are under a UEFA travel ban following crowd disturbances during their away game against Vitoria Guimaraes in October.
No tickets for Arsenal’s clash against Eintracht Frankfurt have gone on general saleCredit: Getty – Contributor
But Arsenal have been warned that thousands of Germans are still planning to travel to London and will attempt to storm the Emirates turnstiles.
Now club officials fear a repeat of the Europa League chaos of two years ago when 20,000 Cologne fans took over the stadium and forced the kick-off to be delayed by more than an hour.
As a result, they have introduced two additional security checks in the roads around the ground to keep out anyone without a ticket and to shut down touts cashing in on the black market.
Two years ago ticketless Cologne supporters tailgated genuine Arsenal fans outside the stadium and stormed through the turnstiles to gain access to the home section.
But the new arrangements should prevent anyone without a valid ticket from getting within 100 metres of the Emirates.
The club has also closed down its ticket exchange service which allows season ticket holders who cannot attend the match to resell their seats.
No tickets for the match have gone on general sale and the Arsenal membership scheme has also been suspended to prevent Frankfurt fans from registering.
Eintracht Frankfurt had their appeal for fans to attend the Arsenal clash rejected by UefaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
The entire away section of the Emirates will also be closed after Eintracht’s allocation of 5,000 tickets was withdrawn following the UEFA ban.
An Arsenal spokesman confirmed: “We are appealing to all Arsenal fans to arrive early to avoid the lengthy queues which will be caused by the extra security.
“We remind all our supporters not to allow your tickets to end up in the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt fans.
“The club will take the appropriate action against any member found passing, selling or offering their tickets for sale which will lead to a cancellation of their membership resulting in a ban.
“Any Eintracht supporters in possession of a home ticket will be refused entry and any who do manage to gain entry will face ejection from the stadium.”
The stringent security measures mean the Emirates could be little more than half full for tomorrow’s group game, when Unai Emery’s struggling team need a point to qualify for the Europa League knockout stages.
But Arsenal are determined to implement UEFA’s ban after the problems caused by Cologne in September, 2017.
On that occasion the German club were ordered to pay more than £50,000 to Arsenal to compensate for damage caused inside and outside the stadium.
And though Eintracht appealed against UEFA’s punishment last month, their application to have the travel ban rescinded was rejected.
The German side were charged by Uefa following incidents during their tie against Vitoria on October 3Credit: Getty – Contributor
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
