Insufficient police support caused Arsenal and PSV’s Europa League fixture to be postponed.
Originally, UEFA scheduled the match for Thursday. This shaped up to be the Gunners’ first match in a week, after The Queen’s passing suspended Premier League play at the weekend. All clubs in the United Kingdom rescheduled their fixtures starting on Tuesday. However, with many Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, in action via European play, the top flight comes back on Friday, Sep. 17.
In fact, it is a situation related to The Queen’s passing that postponed Arsenal’s Europa League game with PSV. With the Royal Family scheduling The Queen’s funeral for Sep. 19, there is a lack of necessary police force available in London. This extends back four days prior to that, the original schedule date for the game.
Arsenal released a statement to fans on the suspension of the fixture. It says the club came to an agreement after a discussion with UEFA as well as police forces in London.
Our @EuropaLeague fixture with PSV has been postponed.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) September 12, 2022
There is no reschedule date set for the Arsenal-PSV game.
Interestingly, there are other games scheduled for the week in London. Chelsea is hosting RB Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. A pair of London clubs, Millwall and Queen’s Park Rangers, battle on Wednesday in the English Championship.
Arsenal does welcome PSV to a bigger stadium than either of those two. Plus, the Europa league fixture is closer to the funeral itself, even if it is just a day.
The effect of the postponement could be massive. Both UEFA competitions have condensed schedules, as do the domestic leagues and domestic cups for both Arsenal and PSV. The reason of that is the 2022 World Cup dropped in the month of November. Clubs and competitions rush to complete the preliminary phases before over a monthlong hiatus for the World Cup.
In the Europa League, both Arsenal and PSV are the favorites to advance out of a group including FC Zurich and Bodø/Glimt. In matchday one, Arsenal won on the road against Zurich. PSV dropped points at home against its Norwegian foes.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Action Plus
