LONDON 2012: Tottenham call for legal guarantee the athletics track stays for good

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

TOTTENHAM Hotspur believe awarding West Ham the Olympic Stadium severely risks greater strain on the public purse amid fears the commitment to athletics will not last.

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The 14-strong Olympic Park Legacy Company today unanimously selected West Ham, who have pledged to keep the athletics track to honour the commitment made by London 2012 organisers, as long-term tenants for the stadium after the Games.

To date it has been the taxpayer who has largely footed the bill for the £537m stadium and Spurs have always maintained that keeping the track was not commercially viable.

They made no bones about their intentions to rip up the athletics track and honour the athletics commitment by renovating the Crystal Palace athletics stadium - but the OPLC believe West Ham will best honour the London 2012 legacy.

Critics of West Ham's bid suggest they will fall between two stools however, creating a soulless football stadium and an arena, used sporadically for athletics events with small crowds and plenty of empty seats.

Some go as far as to suggest that when that happens, West Ham will break their pledge to athletics and tear up the track.

And in the aftermath of the OPLC's decision, Spurs have released a statement calling for the track to be legally guaranteed.

"It was never an option that we would retain the running track as we believe this to be unacceptable for our supporters and therefore wholly unviable in the long term," reads the statement.

"It carries with it the major risk of being incapable of delivering a lasting legacy without further calls on the public purse or a requirement for changes to the stadium and track at a later date.

"Much has been made of the promise to keep the athletics track within the Olympic Stadium and, therefore, we should all expect to see the retention of this track firmly embedded and legally guaranteed by those entrusted with this legacy commitment, today and in the future."

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has recently suggested that should Tottenham lose out, they could seek a judicial review.

The club statement contained no mention of legal action but confirmed Tottenham would be monitoring the situation closely with two Government ministers and the Mayor of London Boris Johnson still to ratify the decision.

The statement continued: "We submitted an honest bid with the only solution we considered capable of delivering lasting regeneration, a significant return to the public purse and wide-ranging benefits to the local communities and to London.

"The OPLC's decision has still to be approved by two Government departments and the Mayor's Office.

"We shall continue to monitor the bid process over the coming weeks up until its final determination, whilst reviewing our position and holding discussions with our advisors.

"We shall spend time assessing our situation in respect of a new stadium and when we have any further information we shall update our supporters."