Arsenal's Strong Stance Against Discrimination in 2025-26 Season

Arsenal have underlined their stance against discrimination with a hard line on offending supporters, issuing stadium bans and football banning orders to nine fans across the 2025-26 campaign.

The Premier League champions released the figures on Tuesday, a deliberate move before the new domestic season begins and the Emirates fills again. The message was clear: the title holders are not prepared to overlook what happens in the stands or online.

Those sanctions followed offences including assault, homophobia, racism and antisemitism, as well as what the club described as “other abusive or intimidating behaviour”. The bans range from one to three years and cover all matches involving Arsenal, home and away.

Arsenal also confirmed they are assisting police with 13 ongoing investigations into alleged in-person or online abuse. The individuals involved, the club said, “remain subject to the club's disciplinary processes pending the outcome of any case”, underlining that internal action will sit alongside any legal consequences.

Behind the scenes, the club’s work has become increasingly data-driven. Through a partnership with data science firm Signify Group, Arsenal identified more than 17,700 messages and comments deemed abusive towards individuals and accounts connected with the club – a sharp rise on last year’s total and a stark measure of the scale of the problem.

From 267 completed investigations, 39 people were identified and referred either to Arsenal or rival clubs for disciplinary measures. Nine of those cases have already been formally escalated to law enforcement agencies. The club has committed to keeping the partnership with Signify Group in place to “continue to identify offenders, report abusive content to social media platforms and pursue action where individuals are found to have crossed the line”.

“This season gave us many moments to be proud of and showed once again the role football can play in bringing people together,” he said in a statement on the club’s website. “The overwhelming majority of our supporters help make Arsenal a welcoming, inclusive and respectful place to be. Those standards are a big part of who we are, shaping the experience people have when they come to Arsenal, and how we represent our club around the world.

“Abuse and discrimination have no place at Arsenal, whether in our stadium or online. While these incidents involve a small minority, we will continue to take action when they happen, while doing everything we can to protect our players, staff, supporters and communities.”

While the disciplinary numbers tell one story, the football calendar is already racing on. Arsenal continue their pre-season schedule on Wednesday against Como, now coached by former Gunners midfielder Cesc Fabregas, a reminder of the club’s past glories and enduring reach.

Then comes the first real marker of the new campaign: FA Cup winners Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday, a meeting of last season’s two heavyweight forces.

New signing Bruno Guimaraes, brought in from Newcastle in a £75 million deal, could make his first appearance in Arsenal colours as Mikel Arteta sharpens his plans for a title defence that will begin at home to newly promoted Coventry on 21 August.

On the pitch, Arsenal will chase back-to-back Premier League crowns. Off it, they have made it plain that anyone who drags the club’s name into the gutter will not be coming along for the ride.