In Prague the final of the Conference League between West Ham and Fiorentina will be played this Wednesday. Undoubtedly, it is one of the most internationally relevant sporting events that have been organized in the Czech Republic in recent years. Although the Conference League is still a new competition of which only its second edition is being held, after winning the trophy from José Mourinho’s Roma last year, little by little even the big league clubs are giving it more and more relevance. This is the opinion of sports commentator Jiří Hošek, interviewed by Radio Prague International.
“I think it has enormous importance in the European context and, especially, in the Czech context. The Conference League is the smallest, the least important, of the three European competitions, but I think it is gaining more and more prestige. Having this final in Prague is a huge success for Czech football.”
Neither Fiorentina nor West Ham itself, with its 151-year history, still have no European title in their cupboards, so for both clubs the importance of this final is enormous.
The Czech fans, for their part, will be heartbroken, since although West Ham is the most “Czech” team outside the country, since it belongs mainly to the millionaire Daniel Křetínský and among its biggest stars are the internationals Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček, also a regular member of the Czech national team playing for Fiorentina, midfielder Antonín Barák. All of them will live a very special moment, since they share the fact that they belonged to Slavia, the club that plays in the Eden Stadium in the final.
A field with a capacity of less than 20,000 spectators, quite small for a game of this category. In fact, the number of fans from Italy and England is expected to be much higher.
Safety is the priority of the authorities and the organizers, who, according to Jiří Hošek, have done everything possible to avoid incidents.
“I think both UEFA and the Czech Football Association and the Police have done a great job trying to prevent clashes. Of course, the risk can never be reduced to zero, but since the very arrival of the fans, the authorities have wanted to make sure that the two hobbies do not meet. Each will take a different route from the airport to the city center and then to the stadium. Metro line A will be used by West Ham supporters, while Fiorentina supporters will be taken to Holešovice from the airport, from there taking the train to Eden Stadium station.
Security around the stadium will be maximum and there will be no Fan Zone in the immediate vicinity that can be shared by all those fans who have traveled to Prague despite not having a ticket. The fans who are not on the field will have different areas, one for each team, to be able to watch the game, but in different areas of the capital.
2023-06-06 12:28:17
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