Arsenal will have at least two tifos for their UEFA Champions League semi-final against PSG, one of which a never-before-seen unique banner hung from the roof of the Emirates Stadium, football.london understands. The news comes as a boost for supporters disappointed after it emerged that plans from the Arsenal fan group, The Ashburton Army (AA), to have their proposed designs incorporated into the pre-match activities would not go ahead.
An initial statement released by the group, which was later deleted, claimed that Arsenal had, "blocked a display for this game". football.london understands that the club had not blocked plans for a tifo to be used during the match build-up, made evident by this news that the club will indeed have a brand new artwork type on display ahead of the match.
The Ashburton Army did release an amended statement, clarifying that Arsenal: "Declined our proposed design and there will not be a display in the Clock End."
It is understood that this was primarily due to the issue of the short amount of time between the proposal and the game itself. Two of the three designs proposed by the Ashburton Army mimicked the display used by Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu, which some have suggested could have been interpreted as mocking the Spanish giants after their elimination at the hands of the Gunners in the quarter-finals.
The AA had previously had a tifo of Thierry Henry greenlit for the first leg of the quarter-final against Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium, which went ahead. However, later an artist on social media, whose post was reposted by the AA, highlighted that it was their artwork which had been taken and they not been asked permission for it to be used.
Arsenal are expecting yet another electric night in north London, regardless of these incidents. The atmosphere generated against Real Madrid was described by many in attendance as the best the Emirates Stadium has ever witnessed.
A Champions League semi-final is arguably the greatest night a club stadium can play host, and it will be only the such occasion in the north London ground's 19-year history. There will be 2500 PSG fans in attendance after it was confirmed that both sets of away fans will take up less than 5% of the respective capacities of the Parc des Princes and the Emirates Stadium due to security reasons.
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