Arsenal Women interim head coach Renee Slegers has defended the club after they were forced to rearrange her side’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Emirates Stadium to accommodate the men’s Carabao Cup quarter-final.
Arsenal Women had been due to host Bayern Munich in their final Champions League group game at Emirates Stadium on December 18, with tickets on sale since September.
That game, however, needs a new venue or date after the EFL announced on Wednesday that Arsenal’s quarter-final with Crystal Palace will take place then.
The scheduling is complicated as Wednesday 18 is the only midweek day Palace can play if they are to have two days’ rest in between their televised matches on the Sunday before the quarter-final and the Saturday after.
There is the added complication that the game cannot be moved to Thursday, as Tottenham are hosting Manchester United in their Carabao Cup quarter-final then and Spurs and Arsenal are not allowed to play major games at home on the same evening for policing reasons.
Arsenal Women must now find a new date or venue for their match with Bayern and the club are in talks with UEFA.
Moving the game to the Tuesday looks difficult as the final matches in Champions League groups must kick off at the same time. As a result, Juventus and Valerenga would have to move their game to Tuesday, too.
Arsenal could look to move the game against Bayern to another stadium in London or Meadow Park in Boreham Wood, which is where they play their domestic cup games. The ground does not meet UEFA requirements, but it is possible the governing bodies gives dispensation in these circumstances.
The Gunners have been at the forefront of growing the women’s game and took the decision to make Emirates Stadium the main home for their women’s team this season.
They are due to host Brighton in the Women’s Super League on Friday night and over 20,000 tickets have been sold.
Slegers, who is in interim charge after Jonas Eidevall resigned last month, believes it important Arsenal’s work to grow the game is not forgotten in the fallout from this fixture clash.
“I understand it’s a question, and I understand that it’s being discussed in the media, as well,” she said.
“I think it’s been a very hard dilemma for the club, two great teams competing in competitions.
“But I think what Arsenal has been doing well is pushing the growth of women’s football for a very long time.
“So, I think this is a bump on the road, but what Arsenal has done for women’s football over time is very strong.
“We look forward to playing against Bayern Munich, having a Champions League night either way. “I think the girls are comfortable at Emirates Stadium as well. Boreham Wood has felt like a home for a long time and Emirates Stadium feels like a home as well, so we just look forward to playing these games and we’ll see where we will play it.”
