West Ham vowed to take action after two German radio reporters were allegedly attacked by supporters of the Premier League club during their Europa League semi-final defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tim Brockmeier and Philipp Hofmeister are understood to have been jumped on by West Ham fans after Michail Antonio drew David Moyes’s side level in the 21st minute at the London Stadium. According to reports in the German newspaper Bild, Hofmeister revealed live on air that Brockmeier’s headset had been ripped off and thrown to the floor.
Hofmeister is reported to have said: “We are being attacked here. They threw the headset down on my colleague Tim. I have to sort myself out a bit. We have to see that we can get some security personnel here.”
They are understood to have been moved to another position at half-time. Bild also reported that Hofmeister said during the broadcast: “You constantly have the feeling that something could come from behind, a punch or something. My dreams of English football have been shattered.”
West Ham condemned the incident. A club spokesperson said: “The club is aware of the incident and will be working to identify the offender. In line with our zero-tolerance approach, anyone identified will have their details passed to the police. They will be given an indefinite ban and be unable to enter London Stadium and travel with the club. There is no place for this kind of behaviour.”
The incident overshadowed West Ham’s first European semi-final in 46 years.
There were fears of crowd trouble but it is understood that there were no clashes between supporters inside or outside the ground. West Ham were aware that their supporters had clashed with Eintracht fans in Seville last month and the club worked hard to ensure no visiting fans would be allowed entry to the home sections.
On the pitch Eintracht deservedly took control of the tie before next week’s second leg in Germany. Ansgar Knauff scored after 50 seconds and Daichi Kamada scored the winner early in the second half.
“Ultimately iIt’s a disappointing result for us but we’ve still got another game to play and we’ve given ourselves a chance,” Moyes said. “Hopefully we’ll play better in the second leg. We’ve got a lot to do. We’ve got to show a lot more quality than we did tonight.”
