Nicki Minaj fans were left angry after the American rapper's gig at Manchester's Co-op Live arena

Nicki Minaj fans were left angry after the American rapper's gig at Manchester's Co-op Live arena was called off at the last minute, following her arrest at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Minaj was arrested on suspicion of exporting soft drugs before being fined and allowed to continue her journey, Dutch police said. However, she didn't make it to Manchester in time for her concert on Saturday, which was postponed as about 20,000 fans were in the arena waiting for her to take the stage.

They included Imogen Pope, 18, from Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, who said she was "pretty livid". "I spent £150 for my ticket and booked a day off work for it, and we sat there for about three hours waiting and we got told it's not happening," she said. "I'm gutted." Ellis Day, 17, from Cheshire, said he was "absolutely devastated". "We've come here, we spent all day getting ready, to see this happen.

"It's just really disappointing when we've got our hopes up and spent the money, and we get told at the very last minute that she's not going to show up."Fans were let into the arena at 19:00 BST, and were hopeful that the gig would go ahead right up until the announcement about the postponement, which came just after 21:30 BST - around the time she had been expected to come on stage. There were some boos in the Manchester arena, before everyone filed out.

According to videos on social media and flight data, the plane thought to be transporting Minaj was still in Amsterdam when the Manchester show was postponed. "I'm disappointed because I saw this afternoon that Nicki Minaj got arrested in Amsterdam," said Kian Young, 23, who had traveled from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire.  The arrest was beyond the arena's control, but Mr. Young was one of many to question why no official statement was made earlier. "I'm confused as to why the Co-op arena hasn't spoken to its fans. Why didn't they cancel it at 17:00?

"Everyone's come - my missus is crying. Why not tell us it's canceled before bringing us in?" It is the latest problem to hit the new £450m arena, which has also been forced to postpone or move gigs by the likes of Olivia Rodrigo , Take That and Peter Kay in recent weeks after suffering a string of delays and technical problems. Olivia Gibson, 21, from Newcastle, said she was now an “ex fan”, and Minaj has a track record of running late and should have allowed more time to travel. "I feel appalled. But also, in a way, I'm not shocked," she said. "And it's not the Co-op Live's fault. She's just letting all her fans down."