Europa: ‘Crowd Safety’ Delays Arsenal-Cologne Kick-Off

Kick-off in the Europa League match between Arsenal and Cologne at the Emirates Stadium in London on Thursday was delayed by an hour in the interests of “crowd safety”, the Premier League club announced.

Thousands of ticketless fans of the German club arrived at the Emirates while travelling supporters who did have tickets were unable to gain access to the ground as police and stewards tried to ease the congestion in the surrounding streets.

A match scheduled to start at 8:05 pm local time (1905 GMT) was pushed back to 9:05 pm (2005 GMT) instead.

“The kick-off of #AFCvCOL has been delayed by an hour in the interests of crowd safety,” said a statement on Arsenal’s Twitter feed.

Earlier reports suggested as many as 20,000 Cologne fans had gathered in London just hours before Thursday’s kick-off despite only 3,000 tickets being made available to away supporters.

Posts on social media sites showed large numbers of Cologne fans singing and marching around Oxford Circus in central London.

Meanwhile, Arsenal issued a statement on their website warning travelling fans they risked being kicked out of the ground if they bought tickets in the sections of the Emirates reserved for home supporters.

“Please note visiting supporters that purchase a ticket in the home end for this fixture are likely to be ejected from the stadium,” the statement said.

Cologne are currently bottom of the Bundesliga table, having lost all three of their opening games in this season’s German top flight.

But they qualified for the Europa League after finishing fifth last term.

Cologne coach Peter Stoeger asked on the eve of the Group H opener if he had a message for the thousands of travelling fans, replied: “Enjoy the pubs!”

AFP