UEFA problem move as fan fear emerges at West Ham United already v Olympiacos
West Ham fans travelling to the clash with Olympiacos will be taken to the game via a coach convoy with police protection after the hosts’ clash with Panathinaikos was suspended due to fan violence, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper shared via their print edition [24 October, pg 63] that UEFA have made a controversial call by scheduling Olympiacos and Panathinaikos home games on Thursday, meaning four sets of fans will descend upon Athens.
This will be a concern for travelling Hammers fans, who will also be subjected to full body searches upon their arrival and locked in the stadium for 30 minutes after full-time as extra protective measures.
Concerning updates
While the travelling Hammers crowd will have been well aware of the sort of atmosphere they would have experienced going to Olympiacos, the measures put in place by the Greek police will only add tension and frustration to the travelling support.
It is understandably in place for the protection of fans, but giving them one way in and one way out of the stadium, via their coaches and escort, seems like it will only add to the problems. Let alone locking them in after the game.
The decision by UEFA to host both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos games on the same night will undoubtedly cause further issues, just days after their game was called off with a player hospitalised, with tensions on that front simmering behind the cover of the Europa League clash.
It would be advisable for travelling West Ham fans to stick to the police instructions, ahead of what seems more and more likely to be a tense and threatening affair, and that’s before the game even starts.
In other West Ham news, a talkSPORT host hit out at “wasteful” West Ham after the Aston Villa defeat.