London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe backed West Ham's bid to take over the 2012 stadium, saying there was a "moral obligation" to preserve the venue.
London Olympics chief Sebastian Coe backed West Ham's bid to take over the 2012 stadium, saying there was a "moral obligation" to preserve the venue.
Premier League club West Ham has launched a joint bid with a local council in London to convert the stadium into a 60,000-seater arena suitable for football, athletics, concerts and community use.
They are battling a rival bid for the site from Tottenham, who are proposing to tear down the stadium and erect a brand new football-only venue on the site.
Sports officials including world athletics chief Lamine Diack have expressed outrage at the possibility of the Olympic stadium being demolished, saying Britain will have reneged on promises made during the bidding process in 2005.
Coe said Britain would lose credibility if the Tottenham bid for a football only venue was successful.
"This is about our ability to be taken seriously again in the corridors of world sport," Coe told BBC radio.
"There is a bid that delivers against the vision that we took to Singapore and we have a moral obligation to make it work.
"It's not beyond the wit of all of us to make this work and we have an obligation to make it work.
"The West Ham bid meets those commitments. I would have to vote West Ham.
"I find it inconceivable that grandparents will take children back to a Premiership football ground, stand among the tiers of sponsorship boxes and say actually somewhere among this lies dormant the memories of Jessica Ennis or Usain Bolt reaching the heights of sport.
"It just does not smell right to me." A decision on the rival bids is expected to be taken by the Olympic Park Legacy Company this week.
AFP
Premier League club West Ham has launched a joint bid with a local council in London to convert the stadium into a 60,000-seater arena suitable for football, athletics, concerts and community use.
They are battling a rival bid for the site from Tottenham, who are proposing to tear down the stadium and erect a brand new football-only venue on the site.
Sports officials including world athletics chief Lamine Diack have expressed outrage at the possibility of the Olympic stadium being demolished, saying Britain will have reneged on promises made during the bidding process in 2005.
Coe said Britain would lose credibility if the Tottenham bid for a football only venue was successful.
"This is about our ability to be taken seriously again in the corridors of world sport," Coe told BBC radio.
"There is a bid that delivers against the vision that we took to Singapore and we have a moral obligation to make it work.
"It's not beyond the wit of all of us to make this work and we have an obligation to make it work.
"The West Ham bid meets those commitments. I would have to vote West Ham.
"I find it inconceivable that grandparents will take children back to a Premiership football ground, stand among the tiers of sponsorship boxes and say actually somewhere among this lies dormant the memories of Jessica Ennis or Usain Bolt reaching the heights of sport.
"It just does not smell right to me." A decision on the rival bids is expected to be taken by the Olympic Park Legacy Company this week.
AFP
