POSTED: April 14th 2011
NewsUpdate
Tottenham ask High Court for judicial review of Olympic Stadium decision
KEIR RADNEDGE / Sports Features Communications
LONDON, Apr 13: The row over the future of London's Olympic Stadium once the Games circus has left town has been revived by Tottenham Hotspur's decision to seek a judicial review of the decision by the Olympic Park Legacy Company.
Daniel Levy, chairman of the North London club, is unhappy about Newham Council's role in the bid with West Ham which secured a long-term tenancy of the venue. The Council had proferred financial support for West Ham on a loan basis and Tottenham consider the use of public funds as unjust.
Tottenham's application to the High Court means that preliminary planning on West Ham's takeover in 2014 will be put on ice. Spurs say they had sought answers on a number of issues from Newham Council but had been ignored.
A club statement said: "The club has on Wednesday sought permission from the High Court to bring a claim against the London Borough of Newham for judicial review of Newham's process in providing a loan for the conversion of the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games.
'Justification'
"The club wrote to Newham asking it to explain its reasons and justification for its decision but Newham has declined to respond to this request for information. Due to the time limits which apply to claims for judicial review, the club has had no alternative but to issue these proceedings in order to protect its position.
"The club continues to hold discussions with both local and national government bodies in order to seek to agree a feasible stadium solution."
Last week, at SportAccord in London, Legacy Company chair Margaret Ford said that awareness of the delicacy of the issue had led the OPLC into ensuring that correct procedures over the decision were followed meticulously.
This is the second high-visibility to mar the run-up to the Games next year. In the other dispute, the British Olympic Association has challenged a decision by the Games organisers (LOCOG) to regard revenues from both the Olympics and the subsequent Paralympics as indivisible.
Keywords · London 2012 · Olympic Stadium · Tottenham · West Ham
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