Arsenal hit with £500k suspended fine over Manchester United rule breach | OneFootball

Gunners sanctioned after new ruling by the Professional Game Board

Exit: Arsenal lost on penalties to Manchester United in the FA Cup third round last season

Getty Images

Your matchday briefing on Arsenal, featuring team news and expert analysis from Simon Collings

Sign up

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Arsenal have been hit with a suspended fine of £500,000 after breaching FA Cup rules last season.

Manchester United were due 9,000 tickets for the game at the Emirates Stadium, which they won on penalties after a 1-1 draw, but the club received only 7,956.

Their £500,000 fine is suspended provided Arsenal confirm they are able to comply with the ticketing requirements for their 2025-26 FA Cup third round tie, and demonstrate continued compliance for further rounds of this season’s competition if they advance.

Safety concerns were cited at the time for the reason why United did not receive the full 9,000 away allocation, with some of the seats in question due to be in the upper tier of the Emirates Stadium.

Persistent standing is not permitted in the upper tier for safety reasons and as such away fans cannot be housed there.

The infrastructure of the Emirates also means that 9,000 away fans cannot all be placed in the lower tier and that led to an issue over the remaining 1,000 seats.

The Safety Advisory Group (SAG), which includes input from the emergency services and police, are involved in discussions of this nature to ensure the safety of both sets of supporters.

A suggested solution to ensure the tickets were used was to give them to neutrals, such as those from community or grassroots projects, but no agreement was found.