Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, following their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United in the 2024/25 season in January, have been slapped with a hefty fine by the Football Association (FA) 10 months after they were knocked out of the competition. The reason why has emerged.
Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils – who have tended to struggled to earn results when facing the Premier League’s tougher teams, including Arsenal – had Joshua Zirkzee to thank for converting the winning penalty after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. It was a game packed to the brim with excitement: Diogo Dalot was sent off; Martin Odegaard missed a penalty.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: The record for the most FA Cup wins is held by Arsenal, who have won the domestic competition on 14 separate occasions.
By virtue of the fact that they dominated proceedings from minute one, crashing out in the third round was a tough one to digest for those of a Emirates Stadium persuasion – and 10 months on, they’ve been dealt another blow. This time, to the tune of £500,000.
Why Arsenal Have Been Slapped With a £500,000 Fine
The north Londoners, on top of crashing out of the oldest competition in football history, are also expected to pay half-a-million as, on Friday, the FA announced that Arsenal had breached FA Cup Rule 192, which states that 15 per cent of tickets issued must be allocated to the away side. That is up to a maximum of 9,000.
Altogether, however, those who were planning to travel down to London from Manchester were left shortchanged by Arsenal’s allocation of 7,956 tickets – which equates to 13 per cent of their home ground’s overall capacity. The Gunners were unable to accommodate 9,000 travelling away fans in the bottom tier of the famous Clock End; the alternative option, housing them in the upper tier, was ultimately ruled out by the Safety Group.
According to The Athletic, the matter had been referred to the Professional Game Board (PGB) by the FA, who claimed the fine is suspended pending Arsenal’s compliance with the rule this campaign. The club have cited safety concerns as why they were unable to comply with the set-in-stone rule.
A collection of United supporters, who had made the 400-mile round trip down to the capital, were placed around the bottom tier and into one of the side stands of the Emirates. As a result, there were a total of 1,500 empty seats. Typically, for Premier League games in the red half of north London, 3,000 tickets are reserved for away supporters.
They are housed in the bottom tier of the Clock End. Eight years ago in 2017, Lincoln City – who were, at that point, plying their trade in the National League – sold out their full allocation of 9,000 tickets to visit the Emirates for their quarter-final match-up. The upper tier, as a result, was utilised to occupy the away fans that had made the trip.
The fine has been reported just days after news of Arsenal’s plans to renovate the Emirates, which they moved into in 2006 after leaving Highbury. They are looking to increase the capacity from xx,xxx to 70,000, which would, in turn, increase the ticket allocation for away supporters.