Arsenal revealed the apprehension of nine suspected ticket touts and the cancellation of 200 memberships in bid to combat mis-sold tickets.

The club has worked with the Metropolitan police to crack down on ticket touts and the misuse of club memberships to gain access to tickets.

In an official statement, the club revealed that they had identified and apprehended nine suspected ticket touts, as well as cancelled more than 200 club memberships.

On the news, stadium director James Beattie said: “We work on an on-going basis to minimise the activities of touts.

“Our fans are the people who suffer, either through paying inflated prices or receiving counterfeit tickets. We would remind supporters they should only ever buy tickets through official club channels.”

Inspector Steve Murfin of the Islington Police added: “The Metropolitan Police Service are pleased to work in partnership with Arsenal Football Club and Islington Council at reducing the supply of illegal ticket sales which can result in disorder within the stadium.”

Arsenal have doubled their efforts to remove touts and monitor membership usage after the incident with Cologne supports in the Europa League back in September.

A greater number of supports turned up than anticipated, and gained access to the Emirates Stadium via ticket touts and club memberships. The influx of fans caused a lot of disorder prior to kick-off, when fans tried to rush into the ground.

Cologne were fined by UEFA, while Arsenal had any charges against them dropped. Since then, they’ve been even more committed to ensuring that tickets are distributed for the standard prices and to the right recipients.