By Craig Turnbull
30 Mar 2011 14:41:00
Olympic Stadium at Olympic Park
Related Links
Teams
The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) have confirmed that Tottenham are planning to take them to court over the decision to award London rivals West Ham the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 games.
The decision from the White Hart Lane club comes after the news that the brand new Olympic Stadium had been completed.
But the OPLC feel they have done everything in their power in handling the procedure correctly, fairly and accurately.
A OPLC spokeswoman told the BBC: “We can confirm that a letter before action in relation to potential judicial review proceedings has been issued.
“We have been consistent, fair, objective and entirely equal in our dealings with the bidders from start to finish.
“We are confident that if these judicial review proceedings are pursued, our approach will be entirely vindicated by the courts.
“The Olympic Park Legacy Company ran a very rigorous and transparent process in its selection of the recommended preferred bidder,” the spokeswoman added.
“We have been supported by independent experts in their field in terms of legal, financial, commercial and technical advice.”
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been pursuing the possibility of relocating Spurs to the Stratford site since initial plans to demolish and expand White Hart Lane became financially unviable, a decision which has been heavily criticised by MP for Tottenham, David Lammy.
Hop, skip, slump | Spurs’ unsuccessful plans for the Olympic Stadium post 2012 games
Spurs’ plans to secure the stadium after the completion of the 2012 games included the proposal to build a new state-of-the-art athletics venue at Crystal Palace, with the club refusing to incorporate a running track within their plans – insisting that such a design would diminish the atmosphere of the arena.
The OPLC, along with the the UK Government and the office of the mayor of London, have four weeks to reply to the letter issued by Tottenham, and it is then up to the north London club to take action and present the papers to the High Court.
Responding to the the OPLC’s announcement, Tottenham have issued a statement insisting that, for the time being, the club “have not issued any proceedings” over the Olympic Stadium.
A statement of the club’s official website read: “At this stage the club has not issued any proceedings against the Olympic Park Legacy Company (the OPLC) or any other party in respect of the decision regarding the award of the Olympic Stadium.
“The club’s lawyers have written letters to the OPLC, the Mayor of London, the Minister of Sport and the Secretary of State for Local Government and a separate letter to the London Borough of Newham raising a number of concerns with the processes which led to the award.
“The letters also requested – in the interests of transparency – for the provision of certain information concerning the processes, which the Club considers that it is entitled to,” the statement continued.
“Tottenham Hotspur will determine its next step as and when it receives a response to these letters.”
