The bad news about West Ham getting AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League last 16 draw

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There is some bad news about West Ham getting AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League last 16 draw.

The Hammers will face the Cypriot side over two legs next month to compete for a place in the quarter-finals.

Larnaca are top of the Cypriot First Division and have only lost four of their 24 league matches this season.

But West Ham will be clear favourites for the tie with the first leg away on Thursday March 9th before the second leg at the London Stadium a week later on March 16th.

Although Larnaca are one of the Europa League dropouts, West Ham should have enough to get the job done – on paper at least.

West Ham avoided big hitters Lazio and Fiorentina and Cyprus makes for a beautiful away day for Hammers fans.

But here’s the bad news about West Ham getting AEK Larnaca in the Europa Conference League last 16 draw.

They have one of the smallest stadium capacities of any side left in the competition with the AEK Arena having a total of just 8,058 seats.

UEFA regulations state that home clubs must make at least fiver per cent of their total approved stadium capacity available exclusively to visiting supporters, in a segregated, safe area.

But that means there will only be space for 402 West Ham fans for the first leg.

Larnaca may of course offer up more but that is highly unlikely.

West Ham fans should also note the UEFA Europa League Away Ticketing Policy, which is as follows:

• The total ticket allocation will be split between Season Ticket Holders, Club London Members, Sponsors and Partners and will be determined by the overall ticketing allocation. There will not be a ticket ballot for these games
• 45 euros is the capped away adult ticket price and will be determined by the host Club

Winning the Conference League would guarantee West Ham European football for a third successive season as they would automatically qualify for the Europa League for the 2023/24 campaign.

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