Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter to react after the Daily Mail revealed that the club must pay £44,000 to Benfica.
Why? Well, because of the travel restrictions imposed by the United Kingdom’s Government, the Gunners are the ones left to pay compensation.
Because of the UK’s restrictions, Benfica have had to relocate the Europe League Round of 32 tie to Italy, in order for it to be played.
Seeing as the Portuguese Government did not impose these restrictions, it is Arsenal’s responsibility to compensate the Liga NOS giants by giving them 10% of their match earnings.
The north Londoners would usually earn £440,000 for partaking in the Round of 32, according to the Daily Mail.
In our view, this seems harsh on Mikel Arteta’s side.
£44,000 is nothing for a Premier League club, although it’s the principle of the matter which seems to have irked the Arsenal fans below.
It’s not the club’s fault that travel restrictions have been imposed by the UK, so why must it be up to the Gunners to pay compensation to their opponents?
The tie will now be played in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, home to AS Roma.
As the Daily Mail add, experts have also advised against players swapping shirts.
Let’s see how the Arsenal fans on Twitter reacted to this news…
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