Kieran Maguire: West Ham fans ‘ignored’ by Uefa as police intervene
Uefa have ‘ignored’ the interests of West Ham fans by hosting the Europa Conference League Final in Prague.
That is the opinion of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about Uefa’s decision to host the Europa Conference League final in a 19,730-capacity arena.
As reported by the Daily Mail, the Met Police and FA have warned of a public order risk if West Ham reach the tournament’s showpiece.
The final is set to be played in Prague’s Fortuna Arena on 7 June, and authorities are concerned that a number of ticketless Hammers fans may travel to the city.
Thousands of West Ham fans attended last season’s Europa League semi-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt without tickets, and the event was marred with outbreaks of violence.
UEFA have since stated that the minimum capacity for next year’s final will be 30,000 – but they add that it is too late to relocate this year’s event.
“Uefa do want to be as diverse as they can in terms of giving individual cities the opportunity to host European finals,” Maguire told Football Insider.
“It was the same in Seville last year with the Europa League final, where tens of thousands of Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt fans travelled to the city but didn’t enter the stadium.
“There are cities willing to pay Uefa hosting fees for these types of matches.
“Because of that, the interest of fans will always end up ignored in favour of commercial and business priorities.
“It is indicative of Uefa’s mindset, but at the same time we could have ended up with two smaller teams in the final that may have struggled to sell it out.”
In other news, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace told £20m will seal Habib Diallo deal