Arsenal learn of potential UEFA sanction after Atletico Madrid complaint

Diego Simeone’s men are expected to provide a tougher challenge, but Arsenal have a strong record, having beaten Spanish teams in European competition five times in a row.

They would become the first team in Champions League or European Cup history to win six consecutive matches against Spanish opposition if they collect all three points at the Emirates Stadium.

Before the match in north London, the away team experienced some difficulties, prompting Atletico to file a complaint with UEFA regarding issues encountered ahead of the fixture.

Atletico held their training session at the stadium on Monday, as permitted for match preparation, but the issue arose after the session concluded.

GiveMeSport reported that after training, the Atletico Madrid players discovered cold water in the dressing room showers. According to Spanish outlet Marca, the squad were left “furious,” “surprised,” and “confused” that such a state-of-the-art venue lacked a basic facility.

Atleti representatives informed Arsenal of the issue at 6.45pm, shortly after the session began. Although they were scheduled to finish at 7.30pm, the Spanish side ended training early, and upon returning to the dressing room, found the issue unresolved.

Atletico submitted a complaint to UEFA, and Arsenal later issued an apology. football.london noted that the cause was a plumbing fault, which was resolved within 40 minutes of being reported.

So could Arsenal get in hot water for the lack of, ironically, hot water?

UEFA Article 49.01 stipulates: “The day before the match, pitch conditions permitting, the visiting team is allowed to train for a duration of one hour at the match stadium unless agreed otherwise with UEFA and the home team. If the home team is also holding a training session in the stadium and both teams wish to train at the same time, priority is given to the visiting team. The visiting team may not hold any other training sessions at the match stadium. If holding training sessions could render the pitch unfit for play the next day, an alternative training ground approved ad hoc by UEFA must be made available. UEFA may decide, for the purposes of protecting the pitch for the match, that one or both training sessions must be relocated to the alternative training ground. Any requests to relocate any training sessions to the alternative training ground must be approved by UEFA. In all cases, priority is given to the visiting team, so the first training session to be moved is that of the home team. Both teams may be allowed to train at the match stadium at the same time with each limited to certain areas of the pitch, provided that these space restrictions are notified in writing to each team.”

Article 11.01 of the UEFA Stadium Infrastructure Regulations states: “Stadiums must be equipped with at least one dressing room for each team, ideally with separate areas for players, team officials, physiotherapy and storage. Team and referee dressing rooms must each be equipped with: showers with hot water, sinks, toilet paper, filled soap dispensers, hairdryers.

These regulations apply to matchdays and not pre-match training sessions, however, meaning Arsenal are unlikely to face any sanctions for the lack of hot water, unless a similar problem is encountered on matchday on Tuesday.