Police are set to be drafted in from all over the Czech Republic boosting the number of officers to over 10,000 for the Europa Conference League final in Prague on June 7.
UEFA have called an emergency meeting in the host city for Friday involving Britain’s National Police Chief’s Council, Scotland Yard, Italian and Prague Police according to the Daily Mail.
The security is so strict police and private security guards will outnumber ticketed supporters of West Ham and Fiorentina.
Fortuna Arena
It has been estimated that 25,000 Hammers and Fiorentina fans without tickets will converge on Prague.
UEFA chose to stage the final in the which has an official capacity of just over 19,000 including standing room, despite it meaning many supporters would be disappointed. It may indicate the level Uefa consider this particular tournament to be at.
An additional worry for the security teams will be the availability of cheap beer around the capital.
A senior Czech police source said: ‘We have no confirmation, but we believe there will be problems of fighting between rival fans and we are confident we can keep it to a minimum.
‘There will be no stopping in the selling of beer, we will not be doing that. We know people will get drunk and be violent, but we are prepared.’
He added that a ring of steel will be thrown around the Fortuna Arena on June 7 and ticketless fans will be barred from entering the police zone around the stadium.
An area around rival club side Sparta Prague’s Generali Česká Pojišťovna Arena will be used as a fan zone to help one set of ticketless fans view the match on giant screens, he revealed.
Rival supporters will be marshalled to a second fan zone at Výstaviště Praha, which is also called the Prague Exhibition Ground, to watch the final on screens.
In between them will be thousands of armed police and riot officers to help keep trouble to a minimum.
The Czech police source said major planning would get underway next Friday, but the two venues had already been decided on.
