West Ham fans accused of confronting families of AZ Alkmaar manager and players leaving them ‘shocked’
A GROUP of West Ham fans have been accused of confronting the families of AZ Alkmaar players and staff.
The Hammers hosted the Dutch side in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final on Thursday night.
The relatives of AZ’s players, manager, coaches and board members were seated in the home main stand of the London Stadium – and not with their team’s fans in the away section.
It is reported by De Telegraaf that the guests included the wife of the club’s general manager Robert Eenhoorn, the girlfriend and two children of manager Pascal Jansen as well as a number of family members of the players.
However, Eenhoorn alleges some West Ham supporters were unhappy they were seated in the section for the Hammers and allegedly confronted them, apparently leaving the visitors frightened for their safety.
It is understood the altercation was triggered by AZ Alkmaar’s goal, which put them 1-0 up on 41 minutes.
The general manager adds the families had to be rescued and moved to a different area of the stadium.
Eenhoorn claimed to have seen the alleged shocking scenes unfold and rushed to provide aid.
He said: “They were then taken to another place, high in the stadium.
“But there were the most dangerous supporters of West Ham about.
“As a result, I hardly got anything from the match, I was only concerned with the safety of our people.”
Eenhoorn told manager Jansen what had happened when they met after full-time.
Jansen added: “He reassured me because my children and girlfriend were in the business.
“I just spoke to them, but everything is fine now. There was some consternation after our goal.
“They were shocked, but they are now safe and in good condition on the bus.”
West Ham are aware of the situation but declined to comment when contacted by SunSport.
On the pitch, Said Benrahma’s penalty midway through the second half cancelled out Tijjani Reijnders’ long-range opener – which had seen one witty AZ fan celebrate wildly in a Millwall shirt.
Michail Antonio then gave West Ham the advantage going into next week’s second leg, though.
The Jamaican bundled in with 15 minutes to go to complete the turnaround and secure a 2-1 win in East London.