West Ham United to be punished as ‘ridiculous’ incident exposes tip of the iceberg
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie expects West Ham United to be punished after Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi was left with a cut head in the Europa Conference League final.
While the Hammers won 2-1 in Prague in a memorable night, it was tarnished by the actions of certain supporters, who threw objects at Fiorentina players in the first half.
One object struck Biraghi on the head, leading to him playing the rest of the game with his head bandaged up.
West Ham players had to plead with the fans to tell them to stop throwing cups and other items onto the pitch while writing in the Sunday Mirror on 11 June, columnist Andy Dunn called for UEFA to throw the book at the Hammers.
He wants a “severe” punishment to be dished out after Biraghi was left injured and McAvennie feels the same way too, calling on the Irons to ban the person culpable for the incident.
Speaking to West Ham Zone about punishment, the former striker said: “It’s definitely warranted.
“There’s no excuse and no place in football for that. It’s ridiculous.
“They’re always remorseful and regret it when they get caught but you shouldn’t do that at any football stadium – you shouldn’t do it anywhere. But it seems to be a thing in football now, I don’t know where it’s going.
“If the guy [who threw the object] is a West Ham supporter then he’s got to be banned.
“It’ll just be the tip of the iceberg but it’ll be a start.
“It’s ridiculous. You can shout your anger but don’t fling things to try and hurt somebody. That’s not right.”