West Ham investigating incident after fans allegedly attack German commentators live on air

By Ben Church and Benjamin Brown, CNN

Updated 1454 GMT (2254 HKT) April 29, 2022

West Ham United said it had identified two offenders.

(CNN)West Ham United are investigating an incident in which two German commentators were allegedly attacked inside the London Stadium during the team's Europa League semifinal first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.

Tim Brockmeier and Philipp Hofmeister, working for German broadcaster Hessischer Runfunk, said their headsets were ripped off and that they were physically assaulted by West Ham fans after Michail Antonio had equalized for the hosts in the first half. The pair said the West Ham fans were sitting directly behind them and had been angered by them cheering loudly when Frankfurt took the lead in the first minute of the match.The incident was captured on the live broadcast.«We are being attacked from behind by the English fans, that's why we were unfortunately gone for a short time,» Hofmeister said on the broadcast.Read More«So we are being attacked from behind. And our colleague Tim just had his headset thrown to the ground, so we really have to be a bit careful what we do here.»West Ham told CNN it had identified two offenders and was continuing its investigation. «In line with our zero-tolerance approach, the offenders' details have also been passed onto the police, who will now conduct their own investigation,» a West Ham spokesperson said. «If the offenders are found guilty, they will be given an indefinite ban and not be permitted to enter London Stadium, nor travel with the Club. Behaviour of this kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at West Ham United.»CNN has reached out to London's Metropolitan Police but has not yet received a response.The incident