Arsenal has decided to ban 24 fans for abusive and discriminatory behaviour during the 2023/2024 season.
“The supporters have each been handed bans of at least one year, with 14 handed three-year bans, meaning they cannot attend any Arsenal match home or away during that period,” a statement from the club read.
According to the Gunners, the bans include 21 in-stadium incidents and three online incidents.
This comes after the Metropolitan Police secured a record banning orders of 197 to football fans attending matches in London last season. The measure aimed to reduce matchday disorder across London and prevented the affected fans from traveling to Germany for Euro 2024.
The club gave a further breakdown of the incident into assault, tragedy chanting, offensive gestures, and racism. The online offenses were classified as racism, antisemitism, and sending abusive messages.
The North London club explained that it partnered with data science company Signify Group to identify online abuse as well as working with the Police to combat targeted in-person and online abuse.
However, the club said that online abuse among its followers has seen a decrease of about 90% over the period.
Meanwhile, Arsenal indicated that the affected supporters could get a reduced sentence if they agree to a one-to-one education programme run by the anti-discriminatory organisation, Kick It Out.
