Ugly scenes marred the end of West Ham United’s 2-1 EFL Cup win against London rivals Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Fans at the London Stadium clashed in a walkway separating the two sets of fans.
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So far seven individuals have been arrested and now the English FA has opened an investigation into what occurred.
Here is the statement they released on Thursday morning.
Before the London derby, the first to played at the London Stadium, both teams issued statements asking for fans to behave but as we have seen on numerous occasions this season at West Ham’s new home, trouble flared up.
Although it was a small minority of fans who ripped up seats, hurled coins, threw punches at each other and had to split up by riot police, the scenes highlight the severe issues West Ham are having with segregation.
After moving into the stadium this summer, there have been incidents of in-fighting between West Ham’s own fans, clashes with supporters of Middlesbrough and Watford and now this latest unrest suggests there are serious problems to fix after the venue was transformed from an athletic stadium into a soccer stadium.
London’s Metropolitan Police were on site for this game (the first time they’ve been drafted in for a match at the London Stadium) and extra stewards were present but they still couldn’t stop fans clashing. Expect a larger police presence for the upcoming games and especially for derby games against London rivals.
It is truly sad to see the video footage below.
Seats thrown at end of Chelsea v West Ham match as fans clash inside London Stadium pic.twitter.com/3vbbTqgnXj
— Paul Lagan (@CFCJourno) October 26, 2016