West Ham United have identified two supporters alleged to have attacked commentators from a German radio station during the first half of last night's Europa League semi-final at London Stadium.
It was claimed that Philipp Hofmeister and Tim Brockmeier were attacked while on air not long after Michail Antonio equalised for the hosts in a game that they ended up losing 2-1. Hofmeister, who works for the radio station Hessischer Rundfunk, said on Twitter: "We are doing okay. Best wishes to all West Ham supporters who love football and respect their opponents."
The pair were moved to a different area of the media tribune for the second half of the game and continued broadcasting. West Ham released a statement soon after the game, saying that the were working to identify the offenders and would give an indefinite ban to anyone identified."
And their work was swift with an update provided at lunchtime on Friday confirming that they have passed on the offenders details to police and, if found guilty, they will be banned indefinitely.
“West Ham United can confirm two offenders have been identified," a spokesman said. "As well as continuing our own investigation, in line with our zero-tolerance approach, the offenders details have also been passed onto the police, who will now conduct their own investigation.
“If the offenders are found guilty, they will be given an indefinite ban and not be permitted to enter London Stadium, nor travel with the club. Behaviour of this kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at West Ham United.”
Ansgar Knauff put the Bundesliga side in front with less than a minute on the clock but Antonio equalised for David Moyes' side mid-way through the first half.
The impressive Daichi Kamada regained Eintracht's advantage in the second half, though Jarrod Bowen came close to making it 2-2 in the final moments with a spectacular overhead kick coming back off the crossbar. The second leg takes place at Waldstadion next Thursday evening.
“We didn’t show enough quality,” Moyes said. “Sometimes the opposition make it hard for you. When you come down to it you are to do the right things at the right moment but we didn’t quite connect.
"There were moments in the second half where we couldn’t do it. We’d get to the byline and we weren't able to do it. We had chances and we didn’t do it well enough."
