Tottenham 2012 plan a corporate crime - Karren Brady

by Adam D Mon 07 Feb 2011, 10:05 am

West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady believes it would be a "corporate crime" to demolish the Olympic Stadium once the 2012 London Games are over.

The Hammers are vying with Tottenham to move into the venue after the Olympics.

The east London club has vowed to keep the athletics track while Spurs plan to rebuild it as a football-only stadium.

Brady told BBC Sport: "It's a corporate crime to spend £500m on a stadium and just four weeks after the Games have finished, bring the bulldozers in."

A decision on the future of the Olympic Park site is expected this week.

An announcement was originally due on 28 January but was postponed because the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) wanted more time to study the bids.

And the OPLC also has a third option of converting the stadium into a 25,000-seat mixed-use venue for sporting, cultural and community events.

An athletics legacy was one of the key promises made to the International Olympic Committee by the London bid team in 2005 when it won the right to stage the Games.

"The Olympic Stadium was built on a promise, made in the Queen's name, to have a legacy for athletics," added Brady.

"Through [West Ham's] design there will be over £90m spent on reconfiguring the stadium so it sits perfectly for athletics and football and cricket and major events.

"Once the conversion is done, with the roof and some of the seats, there wont be a single seat within that stadium that has a worse view of the pitch than Wembley."

The Hammers, in a joint bid with Newham Council, want to create a 60,000-capacity arena that will also be used for concerts and community events.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe and former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell have both backed West Ham's bid to to take over the stadium.

And Lamine Diack, president of world athletics governing body the IAAF, and an International Olympic Committee member, told BBC Sport last month that London 2012 organisers will have "lied" and Britain's reputation will be "dead" if an athletics legacy is not left at the Olympic Stadium.

Tottenham, who are joint bidders with with sports and entertainment company AEG, say they would create an athletics legacy by contributing to the refurbishment of the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is firmly against keeping the running track between the stands and the pitch at the Olympic Stadium.

Any OPLC recommendation will have to be ratified by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Department of Communities and Local Government, and the London Mayor's office.

The ultimate deadline for the OLPC is the end of the financial year, although currently there is no suggestion it will take that long to make its decision.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9389433.stm