Chelsea 'forget' to wear black armbands for Manchester attack victims in FA Cup final first half against Arsenal

Chelsea took to the field for Saturday’s FA Cup final against Arsenal without wearing black armbands.

There was a minute’s silence ahead of the showpiece final at Wembley which was impeccably observed by both sets of supporters.

But after the Chelsea players had removed their commemorative tracksuit tops it quickly became clear that their players were not wearing black armbands – unlike Arsenal.

BBC Sport reporter Dan Walker revealed that the Chelsea players were not wearing armbands because of a “logistical issue”.

The players were reportedly unable to agree whether or not to wear their tracksuit tops or not before the match. In the end they decided to wear the tops for the pre-match ceremony, but forgot to wear armbands underneath.

Chelsea's players reappeared for the second-half wearing their armbands.

Chelsea were quickly criticised on social media for not donning armbands during the final.

“It has not been lost on fans around the world that Chelsea players, unlike Arsenal, are not wearing black armbands,” the sports broadcaster Sean Cardovillis tweeted shortly after kick-off.

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“I can’t believe the Chelsea players are not wearing black armbands,” another user wrote. “How disrespectful.”

The club had earlier announced in a statement that their players would wear armbands for the match.

“As a mark of respect, our players will wear black armbands at the FA Cup Final against Arsenal on Saturday,” the club said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Chelsea Football Club will also make a donation to a fund supporting the victims of this horrific attack.”