Impossible’: UEFA issues West Ham fans warning as 20,000 travel to Prague for Europa Conference League final

Impossible’: UEFA issues West Ham fans warning as 20,000 travel to Prague for Europa Conference League final

West Ham United play Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday but were only alloated 5,780 tickets in the stadium.

West Ham United fans have been warned that it is ‘impossible’ that ticket resale sites have the number of tickets being listed ahead of the Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina on Wednesday night.

The Hammers were allocated 5,780 tickets for the final at the Fortuna Arena, which is a little over a quarter of the stadium’s 19,370 capacity.
With such a measly allocation, it is reported that as many as 20,000 West Ham fans are planning on travelling to Prague, some to soak up the atmosphere and some in hope of scoring a last-minute ticket.

Over the weekend, it emerged that one resale site had 1,500 tickets for sale ahead of Wednesday’s match, which was a cause of concern for fans given the rising prevalence of ticket scams.

The West Ham United Supporters’ Trust and Football Supporters Europe raised the issue with UEFA and have now issued a warning to fans looking to buy online. UEFA told the groups that it was “impossible that website has 1200 tickets since more or less the total number of tickets which available on general sites” and that the site was “definitely a scam

PC Andy Sheldon of the Met Police added: “As I have said before and will again, please be mindful when buying tickets on the secondary market as people make a lot out of others’ desperation for a ticket… and sometimes the tickets don’t even exist.”

Czech police are putting an extra 250 officers in place in Prague ahead of the meeting between West Ham and Fiorentina with one officer reportedly telling PA there had already been “a couple of incidents” involving Hammers fans and that they are “prepared for trouble”.

Fan parks are being set up in the city centre to host the thousands of fans travelling without a ticket with shuttle buses running straight from the airports to these areas.

UEFA has described the host city and stadium as ‘compact’ and has raised the minimum capacity for the Europa Conference League final stadium to 30,000 from next year as a result.

Former West Ham star Joe Cole has spoken out about the situation. He told the i: “You’d like common sense to prevail on these types of things. I think last year when Roma and Feyenoord played that should have made Uefa think about how much football means to people. People want to be there to watch their team play

The only sad thing [about the final] is that there is not going to be more than 6,000 fans getting tickets. It should be at a place like Wembley. This game would have filled out Wembley, the Nou Camp, the Bernabeu, anywhere, it really could.”

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Report: West Ham now interested in signing £40m Chelsea player, Moyes getting a bigger say on transfers

West Ham are interested in signing Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, according to reports.

FootballTransfers claims that West Ham manager David Moyes is in line to be given a bigger say on the club’s transfer activity this summer.

It is explained that the Hammers boss is looking at three midfielders to replace Declan Rice, who’s linked with a move away from the London Stadium in the upcoming transfer window.

The report adds that Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher, Southampton’s James Ward Prowse and Manchester United’s Scott McTominay are the players eyed by Moyes.

We will be very interested to see if anybody gets near to meeting Chelsea’s asking price.

If you’re judging Gallagher solely on this season, his £40million valuation seems very unrealistic. The 23-year-old midfielder really didn’t set the world alight during his first year in the senior squad at Stamford Bridge.

However, the England international previously lit up the Premier League during a season-long loan at Crystal Palace in the 2021/21 campaign.

Gallagher’s return of three goals in 45 games this season was far too low for somebody with his quality.

In addition, the Blues academy graduate struggled to fit one position under the numerous managers at the Bridge.

We could definitely picture Gallagher fitting into the West Ham line-up and doing well, but what does Mauricio Pochettino think of the matter?

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After £38m bid was rejected in 2022, Chelsea now set to try again for defender compared to Gvardiol

What’s the story?
Well – according to L’Equipe – the Blues made a £38m bid for the Lyon No.4 in the summer of 2022.

However, the offer was rejected, and Lukeba ended up staying with the French giants.

The 20-year-old has continued to develop well at Lyon, making 34 appearances in Ligue 1 throughout the 2022/23 campaign, with his superb displays keeping Chelsea interested.

But Football Club believe the Blues remain attentive to Lukeba’s situation, and are ready to try again as he currently hesitates over signing a new contract.

The French news outlet state that Chelsea currently lead the race to sign the France Under-21 international.

But Football Club add that Lyon are hoping to receive at least €50m (£43m) for Lukeba, but they could even demand more if Rayan Cherki is sold first, as the Ligue 1 side feel they have a very rare commodity on their hands in the talented centre-back.

Who is Chelsea target Castello Lukeba?
The Lyon-born defender is not exactly a household name, yet, so you may not know too much about him.