Arsenal deny any wrongdoing after Cologne fans cause chaos in home end during Europa League clash
German supporters went on a rampage in the Emirates but club blame ticket touts for the violent scenes that marred the 3-1 win
ARSENAL have released a statement denying any wrongdoing after the violent scenes outside the Emirates.
The Gunners 3-1 win against Cologne was marred after fans of the German side caused havoc outside the ground and attempted to get into the home end.
Kick-off was delayed by an hour and police and stewards struggled to cope with the estimated 20,000 travelling supporters who had tickets in the same section as Gunners fans.
The statement said: "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 red memberships purchased after the draw were able to be used to get tickets in the home end for this match.
"We also worked with our colleagues at Cologne to stop supporters travelling without match tickets.
"The 3,000 tickets issued to Cologne fans was in line with competition rules but it is clear many more visiting fans arrived, causing significant congestion and disturbance outside the stadium before kick-off.
"Many tickets were sold through touts and this is very disappointing.
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"We have launched a full review into the circumstances surrounding the game and will ensure any lessons that can be learned are used in the future."
Arsenal fans were accused of flogging their matchday tickets to the Cologne supporters.
And they could find themselves having their memberships taken away if they are found to have sold the tickets.
