Arsenal-Forest game delayed by 30 minutes because of problem at turnstiles at Emirates Stadium
The stadium screen announces a 30 minutes delay of the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at Emirates stadium in London, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
LONDON — The start of Arsenal's opening Premier League game against Nottingham Forest was delayed by 30 minutes on Saturday after a problem with the turnstiles at Emirates Stadium left thousands of fans unable to get in on time.
The kickoff had been scheduled for 12:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT) but was pushed back because of an issue with the club's new digital ticketing system.
TV footage showed thousands of fans still waiting outside the Emirates 10 minutes before the scheduled kickoff, with only a sparse crowd inside the 60,000-seat stadium.
The turnstiles were eventually able to open and the stadium was full by the time the game started at 1 p.m. local time (1200 GMT).
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta apologized to the supporters after the game, which Arsenal won 2-1.
“I apologize to all of them for what happened,” Arteta said. “We will look at what happened, try to improve it ... thank you to everyone for their patience that they had, thank you as well to the referees and Forest for allowing the kickoff to be delayed so that we could have the atmosphere that we deserved to play a Premier League match in.”
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