Olympic Stadium decision may be delayed until after Games
WEST HAM may have to wait until next season to learn whether they will move to the Olympic Stadium, after London 2012 legacy chiefs yesterday reopened the bidding process until July.
A decision on which parties will use the £530m arena from 2014 had been due on Monday but will now not be made until August or September – possibly after the Games themselves have ended.
It is the latest delay in a tortuous and opaque process that has already lasted more than 18 months, after the original agreement with West Ham was scrapped in October amid legal challenges.
The London Legacy Development Corporation hopes the extension and amendments to the criteria will attract more bidders to the table, after just four submitted firm proposals.
One of the changes removes the need for governing body approval, which Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn, a strong opponent of West Ham’s potential move, had accused the Hammers of lacking.