West Ham supporters are struck out! Hammers fans WON’T be able to watch their Europa Conference League final with Fiorentina at the London Stadium – as venue will be preparing to host two MLB games between Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals
- West Ham face Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on June 7
- Chicago Cubs face St Louis Cardinals at the London Stadium on June 24 and 25
The London Stadium will not be a melting pot of West Ham fans hoping to celebrate a Europa Conference League final triumph – due to a prior agreement with Major League Baseball.
The Hammers face Fiorentina in the European showpiece in Prague on June 7 – as they look to win their first major trophy in 43 years.
With just an allocation of 4,890 at the 20,000 capacity-Fortuna Arena for the final in Prague, there will be plenty of West Ham supporters looking to congregate together to enjoy what could be a momentous occasion.
However, sadly they won’t be able to do so at their 66,000-seater London Stadium as work will be well underway into transforming it into a baseball field.
And that is because later that month the Chicago Cubs and St Louis Cardinals meet twice in two days on June 24 and 25 as part of MLB’s World Tour.
The London Stadium will not host West Ham fans for their Europa Conference League final
West Ham supporters will be buoyant mood on June 7 when they face Fiorentina in the final
The game will be played at Slavia Prague’s stadium, which has a capacity of just over 20,000
The London Stadium will host the Chicago Cubs (left) and St Louis Cardinals on June 24 and 25
It is the first time since Covid that baseball will be back at the London Stadium following the inaugural London Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees in 2019.
West Ham’s predicament over this is down to the fact they do not own the London Stadium outright – with the Premier League outfit instead paying an annual rental fee to the London Legacy Development Corporation since their switch from Upton Park in 2016.
As exclusively detailed by Mail Sport on Tuesday afternoon, West Ham security staff will visit Prague later this week to inspect fan zones being prepared by UEFA amid concerns they will be too small to accommodate the thousands of ticketless supporters intending to travel.
The club have yet to be informed of the capacity of the two fan zones being constructed in the Czech capital, while UEFA would only tell Mail Sport that at previous events they have varied in size from housing a few hundred fans to several thousand at last year’s Champions League final in Paris.
As many as 25,000 ticket-less fans are expected to descend on Prague for the final on 7 June, leading to fears of a security nightmare.
In addition to inspecting the fan zones West Ham staff will also hold talks with local police over how the so-called ring of steel around the stadium will be enforced, as well as seeking to identity other areas of the city where their fans can congregate together in safety.
Mail Sport also exclusively revealed on Monday that 10,000 police officers will be drafted into Prague from all over the Czech Republic next month, with fears of trouble magnified by the attack on West Ham fans by AZ Alkmaar hooligans at last week’s semi-final second-leg in Holland.
UEFA have also called an emergency meeting for this Friday involving Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council, Scotland Yard, Italian and Prague police.
West Ham will send security staff to fan zones in Prague ahead of their Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on June 7
Security were forced to intervene during West Ham’s visit to AZ Alkmaar, when a group of home fans invaded the away supporters section
