Metroploitan
Police officers will be on duty inside the London Stadium for the first time
for West Ham's EFL Cup match against Chelsea on Wednesday.
Sky Sports News HQ understands a temporary 'Airwave' radio communications
system has now been installed inside the former Olympic Stadium.
Fears were growing among stadium stakeholders that the lack of a suitable
system would mean police could not carry out their duties effectively
before, during and after the potentially explosive fixture.
More than 50,000 fans are expected for the first major night match at West
Ham's new home. The fixture is likely to be assessed in the next few days as
a high risk "Category B" or "Category C" game with the Met under increasing
pressure to make sure that they have officers stationed within the ground.
In a statement Chelsea said they were "disappointed" after they were
allocated 5,182 tickets for the game. Under competition rules, away teams
are entitled to 10 per cent of the stadium's capacity.
Chelsea requested their full allocation - 5,700 tickets of the
57,000-capacity stadium. However, West Ham are restricted to allocating
5,200 'away' tickets due to infrastructure issues.
To date, the police's command centre has been at the nearby Queen Elizabeth
Park with officers only entering the stadium in case of criminal behaviour.
Sky Sports News HQ understands a permanent 'Airwave' system will be fully
installed by February 2017.
The temporary 'Airwave' system has been tested for the past fortnight and
relies on a police Land Rover parked next to the stadium.
West Ham, Chelsea and the Met Police have been in discussions about the
security issues surrounding the match since the draw was made last month.
West Ham's first few months at London Stadium have been dogged with
segregation issues and clashes between rivals fans.
Police refuse to discuss crowd control tactics ahead of high risk games, but
they will be keen to segregate rival fans walking to the stadium from the
nearby Stratford Station.
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