EXCLUSIVE: UEFA confirm an extra 890 tickets have been made available for West Ham’s Europa Conference League final… with black market prices already reaching £9000 and fans slamming situation as ‘beyond a joke’
- West Ham have been negotiating over the ticket allocation for next month’s final
- Initially, the Hammers were given less than 5,000 tickets for match in Prague
- Now, they will be able to take 5,780 fans to the Eden Arena at the start of June
West Ham fans scrambling for tickets to their teams first European final in 47 years, were given a boost today when UEFA allocated more seats to the club.
After complaints that just 4,890 seats were being made available to the premiership club which plays at the 60,000 plus capacity London Stadium, UEFA relented.
The EastEnders have been granted an extra 890 seats after negotiations between the club and the tournament organisers.
It brings the number of tickets available to West Ham fans to 5,780 which officially cost between 25 Euros and 125 Euros.
But black market prices have already reached up to £9,000 for the Europa Conference League final on June 7 at the Eden Arena between David Moyes side and Fiorentina of Italy.
West Ham have been awarded an extra 890 tickets for their Europa Conference League final
The 19,370-capacity Eden Arena will host the Europa Conference League final on June 7
The Italians, who have a stadium that holds 43,147 people, are believed to have been awarded the same updated allocation.
The increase in ticket numbers is not expected to stop thousands of ticketless fans from travelling to Prague which has heightened security fears.
But West Ham season ticket holder Dr Brian Davis, a psychologist of Forest Gate, said: ‘The whole ticketing situation is beyond a joke.
‘We spend our lifetimes paying out money to support our club, and we finally get close to winning something, this is how we are treated by UEFA.
‘How on earth did UEFA come to pick such a tiny ground for this match? There is a lot of resentment among us towards them.’
West Ham season ticket holder Dr Brian Davis said the ‘ticketing situation’ was ‘beyond a joke’
Steve Matthews, 56, of Kensal Rise, added: ‘West Ham fans do not want to go anywhere and just cause trouble.
‘All we want to do is see our team play in a final, which most of us have been starved of since 1980. Is that too much to ask?
‘Even last week UEFA could have shifted this game to a neutral ground, which holds 60,000 people. But real fans always come second.’
UEFA and police chiefs from Britain and Italy have scheduled an emergency meeting in Prague for Friday to evaluate how to deal with up to 25,000 ticketless fans set to converge on the Czech capital.
