LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur put themselves on a collision course with Olympic chiefs by insisting they would ditch athletics if they were allowed to take over London’s Olympic stadium following the 2012 Games.
Spurs said on Wednesday they would demolish most of the 80,000-seater athletics arena and replace it with a 60,000-capacity purpose-built football venue if they beat fellow London Premier League club West Ham to the site in the eastern district of Stratford.
A key pledge when London bid for the 2012 Games was that staging the Olympics there would leave a permanent legacy for athletics in the city.
Tottenham’s legacy plan would see the dilapidated Crystal Palace athletics stadium in south London redeveloped.
But Olympic athletes commission head Frankie Fredericks said Wednesday he hoped the London athletics track could stay in place after the 2012 Games.
The four-time Olympic sprint silver medallist, said the idea of the track being ripped up left him with the same “empty feeling” as the transformation of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic stadium, where he won 100 and 200m medals, into a baseball venue.
Tottenham’s proposals for the site are controversial for other reasons too.
They are currently based in White Hart Lane, north London, which has been Spurs’s home ground since 1899.
Moving to the Olympic site would take Spurs out of their own area and into the ‘territory’ of east London club West Ham, who currently play at Upton Park.
It is an idea that has upset both sets of supporters, especially as Spurs have also unveiled plans for a new stadium near White Hart Lane, although this could prove more expensive than building on the Olympic site.
West Ham believe a Tottenham move to Stratford would encroach on their traditional ‘territory’ although Britain’sDaily Telegraph newspaper reported last week the Premier League had no objection to either club moving to the Olympic site.
Many British football fans dislike the idea of a running track at a ground, believing it leaves supporters too far away from the action.
A decision on the Olympic Stadium site’s future is expected in under two months’ time.
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