2012 Rules Out West Ham Stadium Move

London 2012 has officially rejected West Ham’s bid to move to the new Olympic
Stadium after the Games have finished, also ruling out any other FA Premier
League club inheriting the venue.

The 2012 organisers confirmed that the 80,000-seater stadium would be reduced
to a capacity of just 25,000 after the Games have been completed.

A statement from the 2012 board said: ‘The board reiterated the priority was
to deliver an Olympic stadium on time and on budget.

‘The board unanimously decided that it would not be possible to deliver this
in collaboration with West Ham or any other Premier League football club, due to
the number of design changes and associated time delays the West Ham proposal
would incur.

‘The board discussed a report on legacy that shows the Living Stadium concept
– with a mixed sport offering combined with commercial, school and community use
– is the most compelling.’

As a condition of its winning bid, the London 2012 organisers are required to
provide a stadium with an athletics and community sports-for-all legacy, which
involves keeping the track.

However, despite the stadium not being suitable for FA Premier League clubs,
lower division teams are still lobbying to take on the venue, most noticeably
Leyton Orient.