On October 10, 2025, the Football Association declared that Arsenal FC has been fined PS500,000. The suspension came in the third-round match against Manchester United in their previous season. This happened due to violation of the rules of allocating tickets to the FA Cup. It was the Professional Game Board (PGB) at FA which imposed the sanction on the club due to its failure to supply the necessary number of away tickets.
The Rule Breach and Punishment
The grounds on which this dispute can help in determination are the third-round of FA cup between Arsenal and Manchester United. In the case of a match not a semi-final or final, FA Cup regulations permit the away club to collect up to 15 percent of the number of tickets sold. Thus, not more than 9000, all the tickets will be in the hands of the away club.
But in this high profile game, Arsenal only sold 7,956 tickets to the travelling United fans. This amounted to about 1,000 short out of the total number of tickets. Moreover, it amounted a violation of the FA Cup Rule 192. It stipulates that home clubs must meet any ticket request within the above rule.
Upon investigation and a referral to the PGB, Arsenal came in light for not complying with the rules. Thus, they chraged them with a suspended fine of PS500,000. This implies that this club will not be tolerating to the fine as long as they are able and willing to adhere to the ticketing conditions to the 2025-26 FA Cup third round and any future home matches within the competition during this season.
The Safety Dispute and Empty Seats
Arsenal had justification because it claimed that it had done it due to safety. The hardest part of the problem was the design of the Emirates Stadium.
The club had to fit 9,000 away attendees in upper section of the Clock End by accommodating number of fans. The Safety Advisory Group (SAG) which involves police and emergency services reportedly ruled this out. This is because of what the Safety Advisory Group stated are persistent standing thereof, which are not allowed along the same due to safety reasons. The infrastructure as well of the stadium has made it impossible to seat all the 9,000 away fans in the lower tier only.
This created a state of anarchy in which the number of seats to leave open to the match was around 1,000. The club rejected the alternative solutions, including assigning these tickets to neutrals, community groups, or emergency workers, as reported.
Precedent and On-Pitch Outcome
This is not the first incidence of its kind in Arsenal. There have been suggestions that Liverpool suffered in the same way last year. The decision highlights how the FA has been keen on ensuring that clubs fulfill their duty to the supporters away.
The match itself however concluded in an ironical disappointment to Arsenal on the field. United spent most of the second half and extra time with ten players following the sending off of Diogo Dalot. However, the Gunners lost the tie on penalties following a one-one draw. Fulham then defeated Manchester United in the fifth round in order to be eliminated in the competition.
Author’s Opinion
This decision leads to an end of a long standing conflict of almost ten months which is a fitting reminder to all clubs of the significance of following competition rules in terms of access to fans. Now the focus will be on the way Arsenal handles the issue of allocating away tickets in the forthcoming FA Cup game in order to avoid the suspension fine becoming effective.
As featured on GoonerNews.com
