Arsenal given UEFA warning

Arsenal given UEFA warning

Arsenal have been warned by UEFA over a delayed kick-off in their Champions League tie with Sporting CP, but they have avoided a fine, unlike Real Madrid.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Arsenal and Mikel Arteta have been given a formal written warning after UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body recorded a late kick-off offence in the quarter-final.

UEFA’s view is that Arsenal were not ready to start on the referee’s whistle and so breached the competition’s timing rules.

There is no financial penalty attached on this occasion, which matters, but only up to a point. The warning still places Arsenal on notice and makes clear that UEFA expect the club’s pre-match routine to be tightened, from dressing-room timings to tunnel procedures.

This is part of a wider effort to clamp down on late starts, particularly in major televised knockout ties, where any delay disrupts tightly controlled broadcast schedules and commercial windows.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Real Madrid, however, have been fined for similar breaches.

Madrid were hit with a €20,000 penalty for a delayed kick-off in their quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich, and had previously been fined €40,000, alongside Benfica, for the same type of offence in a group-stage game at Estádio da Luz.

In both instances, UEFA also issued formal warnings to the head coach, underlining that repeat offences can lead to tougher personal sanctions as well as financial ones.

The difference, according to the source material, is that Madrid are being treated as repeat offenders, whereas Arsenal are being handled as a first or lower-level case in this instance, at least.