Arsenal have apparently cancelled around 1,000 memberships following the fan trouble that took place before the Gunners’ Europa League clash against FC Cologne.

The Evening Standard are reporting that around 1,000 Arsenal memberships have been cancelled following the fan trouble before the Gunners’ home game against FC Cologne on 14 September.

Ivan Gazidis has also confirmed that ‘a significant number’ of ‘fans’ have been stripped of their ability to buy Arsenal tickets through the website’s membership system as it’s been discovered that many were either touting or flogging them online.

“We did have controls in place from preventing Cologne fans from obtaining tickets outside of their own designated fan areas but it became clear that there were many touts in operation and a number of them registered on our membership system, purchased tickets and sold them online,” said Gazidis.

“It is extremely difficult to identify individuals involved but we are working hard to do this. So far we have cancelled a significant number of memberships and expect there will be many more cancelled as we continue to investigate the transactional data.”

As the chief says, even more fans could lose their memberships as the investigation into how 15,000 Cologne fans managed to get hold of tickets in the home section of the Emirates continues. The German side were allocated 3,000 seats but clearly rules were broken and something went wrong along the way.

Arsenal are apparently looking into their ‘friends and family’ scheme, which allows members to purchase tickets for other people.

cologne fans
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 14: Koeln fans guesture towards Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal during the UEFA Europa League group H match between Arsenal FC and 1. FC Koeln at Emirates Stadium on September 14, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

It’s reassuring to see that the club have carried out their own internal investigation as well.

FC Cologne have been charged by Uefa with four disciplinary counts including crowd disturbances and acts of damage. Arsenal are facing punishment for blocking stairways in the away supporters section.

The Gunners are allegedly confident that they won’t face the same problem when Red Star Belgrade visit the Emirates on Thursday.