“UEFA will not punish my players for AZ Alkmaar incident,” says West Ham manager David Moyes

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By Martin Graham | 22nd May 2023

West Ham United manager David Moyes has expressed confidence that his players will not face sanctions from the governing body of European football, UEFA, for taking on fans of AZ Alkmaar last Thursday.

Both sides met in one of the semifinals of the UEFA European Conference League and the Hammers would prevail over the Eredivisie side by an aggregate scoreline of 3 – 1 across two legs.

The second leg, which was hosted by the Dutch team, turned violent during the Premier League side’s celebrations. Family, friends and travelling support of West Ham were attacked by a section of angry AZ Alkmaar fans as they celebrated their side’s progression to the final of an European competition for the first time in more than four decades.

This spurred Hammers’ captain Declan Rice, Said Benrahma, Flynn Downes, Michail Antonio and a few others to jump into the crowd and confront the Alkmaar fans, leading to a 10-minute brawl which was eventually dispersed by the stadium security in collaboration with the assigned police detail.

It was an unsavoury sight to behold and a blight on the Eredivisie side’s name. However, reports coming out of the Netherlands indicate that UEFA want to sanction the West Ham players who got involved along with the erring fans.

The Premier League side is prepared to fight the sanctions but Moyes has calmly stated that he does not believe it will get to that point. “I can’t see any problem, to be honest,” Moyes, who called for calm in the wake of the incident, said.

“I work with UEFA on the technical stuff and I don’t think we’ll have any questions asked about that, that’s my own opinion.”

The incident did nothing to down the morale of the London club back in their domestic league, however. It instead spurred them to fight for safety and win it in grand style against Leeds United on Sunday.

The Hammers ran out 3 – 1 winners at the London Stadium, officially securing their place in next season’s Premier League. This follows calls from fans to let go of Moyes to the club’s upper management after a disappointing season.

Their decision to back the Scotsman has now been proven right, with an European final on the horizon and a ticket to next season’s top flight.

They will be rounding off their league seasons against Leicester City on 28 May before travelling to Czechia to face Fiorentina in the Eden Arena for the opportunity of being the second-ever winners of the UEFA European Conference League title.