Soccer Football - Europa Conference League - Final - Fiorentina v West Ham United - Prague, Czech Republic - June 7, 2023 Police officers are seen in the Old Town ahead of the match REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech police detained 16 suspects after a group of black-clad Fiorentina fans attacked West Ham United supporters in a bar in central Prague on Wednesday ahead of the Europa Conference League final, injuring three patrons, authorities said.
Video on Twitter showed fans setting off flares and throwing tables at the bar located just off Prague's Old Town Square. A police officer was also attacked.
"Italy fans attacked West Ham fans in a bar on Rytirska street, injuring three," Czech police said on Twitter. "A police officer was also attacked. We have restricted the personal liberty of 16 people."
Prague police have called in several hundred officers to patrol the event as they braced for an estimated 20,000 West Ham supporters - many without match tickets - to revel in their team's first European competition final in nearly half a century.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn and Robert Muller, Editing by Ed Osmond)
