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Despite the collapse of a deal to award West Ham the Olympic Stadium after London 2012, the club's vice-chairman Karren Brady says they are still keen to move to the venue.
The Olympic Park Legacy Company today announced that negotiations with the club, unveiled as the preferred stadium bidder in February, had ended because of growing concerns over delays caused by the ongoing legal dispute with rival club Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham had not signed any contracts, allowing the OPLC to abandon talks with the club over the stadium move. The stadium, which cost an estimated $760 million, will now remain in public ownership and leased out to an anchor tenant following a new tender process.
West Ham's Brady released a joint statement with the London borough of Newham ahead of a statement from the government's department for culture, media and sport which will more fully explain the reasons for the OPLC's decision.
"Uncertainty caused by the anonymous complaint to the European Commission and ongoing legal challenges have put the Olympic legacy at risk and certainly a stadium, as we envisioned it, may not be in place by 2014 due as a direct result of the legal delay," Brady said.
"Therefore we would welcome a move by OPLC and government to end that uncertainty and allow a football and athletics stadium to be in place by 2014 under a new process.
"If the speculation is true, West Ham will look to become a tenant of the stadium while Newham will aim to help deliver the legacy.
"Our bid is the only one that will secure the sporting and community legacy promise of the Olympic Stadium - an amazing year-round home for football, athletics and community events of which the nation could be proud."
