Atletico Madrid have reportedly lodge a formal complaint to UEFA about Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium as both teams face off in the UEFA Champions League.
The Spanish outfit are in north London for an epic clash with Arsenal and trained at the Gunners’ famous home on Monday. However, they were left without hot water on site – leading to contact being made with European football’s governing body.
UEFA lists showers with hot water as something that every dressing room in continental competition must be equipped with – with rules clearly being laid out in infrastructure regulations. Those rules do, however, apply to the hosting of matches, not informal training sessions.
However, Atletico were of the opinion that facilities at such an impressive venue should have been in full working order for their visit. They are said to have suffered a hot water shortage in the away changing room that they occupied.
Atletico de Madrid players during a training session at Arsenal Stadium. (Photo by Harry Murphy/Getty Images)
According to The Athletic, the plumbing problem “went unfixed for over an hour”.
It is claimed that the Rojiblancos were left “surprised” and “angered” by the lack of hot running water, leading to them flagging the “anomalous situation” to UEFA.
Spanish media outlet Cadena Ser says “outrage erupted” in the Atleti camp.
The Athletic added that both dressing rooms were impacted by the issue which was eventually resolved “within 40 minutes of Arsenal being alerted to it”.
Atletico Madrid players take part in a training session at the Emirates Stadium (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
A fix is said to have been found before Atletico were due to finish training, but their session was cut short. That led to the Liga side heading back to their hotel in order to shower and unwind.
Staff at the Emirates “acknowledged the error” and restored the hot water supply “shortly after the Atletico squad had left”. The Premier League outfit are said to have “apologised to their Liga counterparts for the inconvenience”.
Atletico have still taken the matter further, with it now being left in the hands of UEFA. Both teams will now shift their focus to the match with Atletico taking in their second game of the season in England, having previously suffered a dramatic 3-2 defeat at Liverpool.
Diego Simeone’s Atleti currently sit 10th in the Champions League table while Arsenal are fifth after winning both of their games against Olympiacos and Athletic Club.
