West Ham supporters are eliminated! Hammers fans WILL NOT be able to watch their Europa Conference League final with Fiorentina at London Stadium – as the venue prepares to host two MLB games between the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals
- West Ham will face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on June 7
- The Chicago Cubs will face the St Louis Cardinals at London Stadium on June 24-25
The London stadium will not be a melting pot of West Ham fans hoping to celebrate a triumph in the Europa Conference League final – due to a prior agreement with Major League Baseball.
The Hammers take on Fiorentina in the European showpiece in Prague on June 7 – as they look to lift their first major trophy in 43 years.
With just 4,890 seats at the 20,000-capacity Fortuna Arena for the final in Prague, many West Ham supporters will be looking to gather to enjoy what could be a momentous occasion.
However, unfortunately, they will not be able to do so at their 66,000 seater London stadium as work is well underway to turn it into a baseball pitch.
And that’s because later that month, the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals meet twice in two days on June 24 and 25 as part of the MLB World Tour.
London stadium will not host West Ham fans for their Europa Conference League final
West Ham fans will be in high spirits on June 7 when they face Fiorentina in the final
The match will be played at the Slavia Prague stadium, which has a capacity of just over 20,000
London Stadium will host the Chicago Cubs (left) and St Louis Cardinals on June 24 and 25
It’s the first time since Covid that baseball will return to London Stadium after the inaugural London Series between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in 2019.
West Ham’s predicament in this regard is due to the fact that they do not own the London stadium – with the Premier League side instead paying an annual rental fee to the London Legacy Development Corporation since leaving London. Upton Park in 2016.
As detailed exclusively by Mail Sport on Tuesday afternoon, West Ham security staff will travel to Prague later this week to inspect the fan areas being prepared by UEFA, fearing they may be too small to accommodate the thousands of ticketless supporters intending to travel.
The club have yet to be told the capacity of the two fan zones being built in the Czech capital, while UEFA would only tell Mail Sport that in previous events their size has varied from a few hundreds of supporters to several thousand last year. Champions League final in Paris.
As many as 25,000 ticketless fans are expected to travel to Prague for the June 7 final, raising fears of a security nightmare.
As well as inspecting fan zones, West Ham staff will also speak with local police about how the so-called steel ring around the stadium will be enforced, as well as finding other areas of the city where their fans can congregate. Safe.
Mail Sport also exclusively revealed on Monday that 10,000 police will be drafted into Prague from across the Czech Republic next month, with fears of unrest amplified by the attack on West Ham fans by AZ Alkmaar hooligans during from last week’s second leg semi-final. in Holland.
UEFA have also called an emergency meeting for this Friday involving the UK National Police Chiefs Council, Scotland Yard, Italian police and Prague police.
West Ham will send security personnel to fan zones in Prague ahead of the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on June 7
Security was forced to intervene during West Ham’s visit to AZ Alkmaar when a group of home fans invaded the away supporters’ section
