Arsenal broke FA Cup rules with 'classless' decision for Man United game

Arsenal have been slammed for a rule-breaking decision made for the FA Cup third round tie against Manchester United.

The two giants of English football met in the pick of the third round fixtures at the Emirates Stadium, with neither wearing their traditional colour of red in line with the hosts' 'No More Red' campaign.

But fans watching on the BBC noticed that although the game would be a shoo-in to be a sell-out, there was a large section of empty seats in the stadium.

The block of red seats were visible in the upper tier but there was a more complex reason for why they were empty.

FA Cup rules stipulate that away fans are allowed as many as 9,000 fans but United were only given an allocation of 8,000 by Arsenal.

According to Mike Keegan of the Daily Mail, this decision was taken due to "safety concerns" - with the Safety Advisory Group, which involves club officials, council officers and members of the emergency services, having the final say.

Empty seats at the Emirates Stadium. Image: X/@aadamp9

Unhappy with the move, United made a number of pleas to receive the additional 1,000 but were unsuccessful. They then suggested that the remaining tickets be given to families and children linked to their own charity but issued a complaint to the FA after no progress was made.

A final idea proposed by the Red devils was to hand over tickets to emergency service workers and people involved in grassroots football projects who cannot normal attend games.

However, it was concluded that there was not enough time to make it happen.

As a result, the seats next to United's away section were left unattended.

But over on X, formerly known as Twitter, fans fumed at seeing the empty seats for such a big game.

One commented: "A sad and unnecessary state of affairs."

A second wrote: "Reminder that Arsenal are as pathetic as it gets. Cheers."

Another added: "For a club that deems themselves 'classy'. They're probably the most classless club going."

A fourth said: "Even with this nonsense, they will still not win the FA CUP. Foolish team."

United will get a share of the ticket sales, with gate receipts split between the two clubs in the FA Cup.