Arsenal have been hit with a heavy £65,000 fine by the Football Association for the behaviour of their players, following Myles Lewis-Skelly’s red card against Wolves last month.

The Gunners have learned the outcome of the independent Regulatory Commission’s investigation into the events which occurred after Lewis-Skelly was controversially sent off by referee Michael Oliver.

The 18-year-old arrived late when challenging Matt Doherty on the edge of the Wolves penalty area. But to the teenager’s shock, he was shown a straight red card.

Arsenal were charged for failing to stop their players surrounding Oliver after he dismissed the youngster – a decision which was affirmed by the VAR. However, Lewis-Skelly’s suspension and red card was overturned on appeal, while Arsenal went on to win the game 1-0 at Molineux.

But that has not stopped the FA from throwing the book at the north London club. A statement released on Monday afternoon confirmed Arsenal had been fined for failing to control their players.

An FA statement read: “An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a £65,000 fine on Arsenal in relation to the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday 25 January.

“It was alleged that Arsenal failed to ensure their players did not behave in an improper way around the 43rd minute, and the club subsequently admitted to this charge.

“The Regulatory Commission imposed this sanction following a hearing, and its written reasons for this can be read below.”

The written reasons published by the FA revealed that Oliver noted in his report that “a number of Arsenal players surrounded myself to protest at the decision”.

Following the charge letter that was issued on January 31, it was alleged that Arsenal had breached FA Rule E20.1.

Using Oliver’s report, video clips and other evidence from both clubs, the three-person Regulatory Commission were satisfied that the charge was legitimate.

It was also noted that the FA had designated the case as a ‘non-standard’ matter due to ‘the serious and/or unusual nature of the reported behaviour, including the duration of the incident and/or the number of players involved and/or the proximity of the players to the Match Official.’

Arsenal admitted the charge and ‘accepted that a number of its players spoke to the referee’.

However, the club claimed that their players were ‘civil and not aggressive’, nor did they ‘behave in a way which was offensive, violent, threatening, abusive, indecent, insulting or provocative.’

The last time Arsenal were fined for breaching this particular rule was back in the 2022-23 season, when they played Oxford United in the FA Cup back in January 2023.

On that occasion, Arsenal were fined £60k – of which £20k was suspended on the basis that they did not commit another breach.