West Ham want to move into 2012 Olympic Stadium

PREMIER League football club West Ham United have confirmed their interest in moving into the Olympic Stadium after the London 2012 Games.

IN THE AIR: The future of London 2012 Olympic Stadium remains unclear with West Ham United expressing an interest in moving in after the Games (Getty Images)

Former Birmingham City owners David Sullivan and David Gold completed their takeover of the east London club today, taking immediate operational and commercial control.

The duo admitted their desire to leave current home Upton Park and move less than four miles west to the £500m 80,000 capacity stadium in Stratford.

"We hope we can persuade the Government to let us move to the Olympic Stadium which is in the same borough. It's a natural home for West Ham United," said Gold.

But London 2012 organisers have confirmed the athletics track must remain in the stadium, while the final decision rests with the Olympic Park Legacy Company [OPLC], headed by Baroness Ford.

The future of the stadium after the Games has long been a contentious point with Mayor of London Boris Johnson along with Shadow Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, wanting to see the stadium maintained at its full size and utilised for potentially lucrative events, such as the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

And with an estimated cost of £176m to maintain the stadium at Olympic size until 2018, with tax-payers footing a large proportion of that bill should it remain public hands, Mr Johnson has also expressed an interest in a rugby or football club becoming tenants.

But London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe has been vehement in his stance that the stadium will be first and foremost for athletics after the Olympics.

Another option being considered by the OPLC is to reduce the stadium in capacity to approximately 25,000, ensuring it would be cheaper to maintain but still large enough to host events such as IAAF grands prix and the World or European Athletics Championships.

Downsizing to that extent would surely end West Ham's interest however, while that would also rule the Olympic Stadium out of the running to be one of the host venues for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, should England's bid be successful.

At present, the Olympic Stadium is on England's bid shortlist of 17 stadia from 12 cities/towns.

The Olympic Stadium was announced on the list as an ‘either/or' option along with Tottenham Hotspur's proposed new White Hart Lane ground.

Fifa rules state that there can be a maximum of three venues in one city and that each must have a capacity of at least 40,000.

And with the Emirates Stadium and Wembley Stadium already on the list, the bid panel selected both the Olympic Stadium and the new White Hart Lane for their bid book with a final decision due at a later date.