There will be no Eintracht Frankfurt fans attending the club’s UEFA Europa League tie with Arsenal in London on November 28th. The German club have been charged by UEFA for throwing objects, crowd disturbances, acts of damage and a late kick-off during their tie with Vitoria S.C. earlier in this seasons competition.
Despite an appeal, European football’s governing body refused to uplift the ban meaning there will be no away supporters in the stadium, at least officially. Given the news, some fans have expressed their concern at the impact this will have on the atmosphere within the stadium.
It’ll be the quietest game in history
— Thomas Manders (@elvinho1993) November 15, 2019
It’s a shame about the Frankfurt fans being banned from the Emirates, would’ve been a great atmosphere that game!
— Tara (@taraAFCx) November 14, 2019
Arsenal have one foot in the knockout stages and are leading Group F. Add to that the current disconnect between the supporters and the way their team are performing, you could end up with one of the lowest Emirates Stadium attendances ever!
The stadium is going to be so empty by the time this game comes around
— Marko Patto ??F©? (@markopatto) November 14, 2019
The Unai grumblings will be nice and audible
— Nimish Kotecha (@nimskikotech) November 14, 2019
When FC Koln came to town back in September 2017, large numbers of German supporters managed to get their hands on tickets in the home end and only when Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring on 9 minutes could you tell just how many there were mixed in and amongst the home crowd. Some Arsenal fans believe that despite the ban it’s likely there will be some Frankfurt representation in the ground somewhere.
And 20k Eintracht fans dotted all around the ground.
— Steven L Powell (@StevenPowell4) November 14, 2019
What do we think?
UEFA’s decision to uphold the ban will certainly have an impact on the atmosphere and perhaps the spectacle as a whole but the organisation would look weak if they were to overturn a punishment for such unacceptable behaviour. There is a strong possibility some Eintracht Frankfurt fans will be inside the stadium but if so, it will be interesting to see how and if UEFA deal with that.