Arsenal consider major rule change after Conor McGregor aimed punches at Bukayo Saka

Arsenal are now considering banning their players from interacting with corporate guests at the Emirates after Conor McGregor’s wild meeting with Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka last week.

Former UFC champion McGregor attended the Emirates last Tuesday for the Gunners’ 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Following the game, the Dubliner made his way onto the pitch where he had a brief kickabout with Rice and Saka. Before posing for photos with the winger, McGregor aimed playful leg kicks at Saka, grappling with him as he jokingly attempted a takedown on the England star.

The Times report McGregor did not have permission to enter the pitch with Arsenal launching an internal investigation into the matter.

McGregor is said to have been asked to return to the stands with ‘a high level of concern’ around the club over how the UFC star was able to aim punches and kicks, albeit playfully, at one of the club’s most valuable players.

McGregor and his entourage are said to have received VIP tickets through third party company 1Access, securing a corporate package that including a box at the Emirates where celebrities are regularly present.

The former featherweight and lightweight world champion was also said to be carrying a bottle of his own-brand ‘Proper no12’ whiskey while on the pitch.

But it was his antics with Saka that were ‘the most worrying’ for manager Mikel Arteta, with the club now considering changes to the arrangement that allows players to mingle with celeb fans after games.

Arsenal are also eager to distance themselves from the McGregor brand given the string of controversies he has been involved in. In 2019, he was convicted of assault after punching a man at a Dublin pub.

The fighter also flattened a Miami Heat mascot during a half-time segment last year. While McGregor insisted the segment was a pre-planned ‘skit’, ‘Burnie’ was dragged off the court and taken to hospital after being struck twice.

McGregor has not fought in the Octagon since July 2021 when he suffered a broken leg in his trilogy defeat to Dustin Poirier.

A proposed return against Michael Chandler has repeatedly fallen by the wayside repeatedly this year with his would-be opponent shifting focus to Charles Oliveira in November. McGregor is not expected to fight until next year at the earliest.