Why 10,000 Police Officers Will Be Deployed in Conference League Final in Prague

There will be over 10,000 police officers drawn from all over Czech Republic to provide security during the Europa Conference League final in Prague on June 7.

It follows the assault of unarmed West Ham supporters by AZ Alkmaar fans last week. The heavy police deployment is a proactive move to prevent violence in the highlight game between the Hammers and Fiorentina.

UEFA has scheduled an emergency meeting in Prague on Friday. Scotland Yard, Italian, Czech and National Police Chief’s Councils of Great Britain will be in attendance.

It will be a follow-up to strategies in place geared towards beefing up security as threats during such matches are imminent.

The number of police and private security officers on duty in the city will outnumber the number of ticketed club supporters of West Ham and Fiorentina. UEFA gave these two clubs 4,890 legitimate tickets each.

The seating capacity of West Ham’s London Stadium is roughly 66,000, whilst Fiorentina’s Stadio Artemio Franchi holds 43,147 people.

Thus, there will be an estimated 25,000 fans in Prague who got tickets in the black market since the tickets were cheap.

However, a steel ring will be thrown around the Fortuna Arena, and anyone without a ticket won’t access the Slavia Prague stadium security perimeter.

The security teams are also keeping an eye on the availability of cheap alcohol near the stadium as is the norm with such events.

A Czech police chief said that they are proactively aware that there will be an incidence of violence between fans. Cheap beer will also be available which increases violence but they are ready to handle it.

“We have no confirmation, but we believe there will be problems of fighting between rival fans and we are confident we can keep it to a minimum,” Daily Mail Sport quotes the Czech police officer.

“There will be no stopping in the selling of beer, we will not be doing that. We know people will get drunk and be violent, but we are prepared,” he stated.

Therefore, a section of the Generali eská Pojiova Arena on Sparta Prague will serve as a fan zone where some ticketless spectators will watch the game on large screens.

Sparta Prague fans who are supporters of the final team will follow the final match on screens, from a second fan area at Prague Exhibition Ground.