17 Feb 2010Hammers dealt blow over Olympic Stadium plans

Football Clubs News | Football Technology and Stadia

Olympics minister Tessa Jowell has suggested that West Ham United are likely to be disappointed in their bid to move to the Olympic Stadium.

After taking over at Upton Park last month, David Sullivan and David Gold immediately announced plans for the club to relocate to the 80,000-capacity arena in east London after 2012.

However, Ms Jowell has insisted that the stadium will remain an athletics venue in the years following the London Games.

"It will be a grand prix athletics stadium because we need one," she commented.

"We have made that commitment, that was one of the reasons that we bid to win the Games and so that is a given."

Sullivan has already said that the Hammers would be reluctant to leave a running track in place if the move goes ahead, as it would put too much distance between the supporters and the pitch.

However, the London 2012 Organising Committee is determined for new athletics facilities to remain in the capital after the Olympics as part of its legacy commitments.

A report published this week by the London Assembly's Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee warned that plans for many of the Olympic venues after 2012 are "still unclear".

Written by Paul Roberts

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