Arsenal facing Uefa probe following Cologne fan chaos and could be slapped with hefty fine over stewarding procedures
ARSENAL will be charged by Uefa after crowd chaos marred their Europa League clash with Cologne.
The Gunners came from behind to defeat the Bundesliga side 3-1 on a dramatic night at the Emirates.
But the match was forced to be delayed by an hour after some of the 20,000 visiting supporters broke through security to storm the home end of the stadium.
A number of skirmishes broke out between fans and stewards as Cologne followers tried to gather in the away end.
Police decided to lock down the sold-out 60,000 capacity arena as thousands attending the game were kept waiting outside until 7.45pm.
Play eventually got underway at 9.05pm with riot police armed with dogs standing between the away section and the pitch.
Further reinforcements then arrived to bolster the initial 110 officers who had been deployed at the game.
But there was still thousands of Cologne fans within the home end all around Arsenal's stadium.
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The visitors, who are currently bottom of the German top-flight, were only given an allocation of 3,000 tickets but nearly six-times that amount made the journey to the capital for their first European tie in 20 years.
And now Uefa are set to act following the chaotic scenes which led to at least four people being arrested.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have released a statement denying any wrongdoing after the violent scenes outside the Emirates.
It 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.
"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."
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