West Ham are preparing measures to prevent rowdy Romanian fans from entering the home stadium for tonight’s Europa Conference League clash… Steaua Bucharest claim 10,000 will be at the London Stadium – despite an allocation of just 3,250
- The Hammers meet FC Steaua Bucharest in the opening game of the group stage
- FCSB President George Becali has claimed 10,000 fans will be in London
- The Romanian club only has a ticket contingent for 3,125 fans on Thursday
- Amid fears thousands might find their way into the Home End, sports mail understands that West Ham have prepared a number of measures to prevent this from happening
West Ham are on high alert to prevent up to 7,000 rowdy away fans from entering the home game for Thursday’s European clash.
The Premier League side host Romanian side Steaua Bucharest at the London Stadium on Thursday night for the start of the Europa Conference League group stage.
And amid FCSB President Gigi Becali’s claims that 10,000 will rise despite a ticket allocation of 3,125 – raising fears fans could infiltrate opposition sections and sit amongst Hammers supporters – sports mail understands that West Ham have prepared a number of measures to prevent this from happening.
Their prevention techniques include that seats on the home side are restricted to fans with previous booking history and customers from Romania are not provided tickets even if they have a previous booking history.
FCSB fans attempting to enter the home stadium will not be admitted and if fans are spotted inside they will be immediately ejected.
Becali said: “I think there will be over 10,000 Romanians at West Ham. Today there were long queues for tickets.’
West Ham faces 7,000 away fans in Thursday’s European clash
FCSB President Gigi Becali claimed 10,000 would rock despite an allocation of 3,125 tickets
Steaua announced on Wednesday night that they had sold out the entire quota of 3,125, which is the maximum number of tickets West Ham could offer visitors.
On Wednesday, thousands of FCSB fans flocked to the Hammers’ grounds to pick up a ticket, queuing from around 9am CET – more than eight hours before the ticket shop opened at 5pm.
At the time, the queue was huge and social media footage showed fans weaving 300 to 400 meters around the stadium.
The delay was reportedly due to uncertainty over ticket sales, with the conclusion that each fan could buy two tickets at a time.
The social media video showed thousands of away fans queuing to get tickets on Wednesday
Fans lined up from around 9am, more than eight hours before the ticket shop opened after 5pm
The London Stadium in Stratford, designed for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, has a capacity of 62,500 spectators.
Ahead of West Ham’s Europa League semi-final game against Eintracht Frankfurt last season, German fans flocked to the stadium and were escorted by the police.
There has been a row over tickets after West Ham threatened to ban any fan who sold their seat to an away fan after an estimated 30,000 Frankfurt supporters headed to the Nou Camp for their quarter-final game against Barcelona.
The Bundesliga side might not have been able to bring that many to east London but they came in significant numbers to create a huge atmosphere alongside the Hammers.
Eintracht Frankfurt flocked to the London stadium in large numbers ahead of the semi-final game
Bundesliga fans were escorted by police into West Ham’s stadium ahead of the game
