Spurs granted right to appeal Olympic stadium decision
Tottenham have been given the green light to challenge a decision to select West Ham as the future owners of London's 2012 Olympic Stadium.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: August 25, 2011 12:43 PM IST
Tottenham have been given the green light to challenge a decision to select West Ham as the future owners of London's 2012 Olympic Stadium.
The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) decided earlier this year that Championship club West Ham had put forward a better proposal than Tottenham in the battle to move into the £486 million ($796m) stadium in east London after next year's Games.
But Tottenham refused to accept the OPLC decision and on Monday successfully applied to the High Court for permission to mount a legal challenge.
Judge Mr Justice Collins ruled in Tottenham's favour just days after deciding the club had an arguable case.
The judge said the West Ham bid approved by the OPLC would remain on hold until the High Court had decided whether any decisions had been unlawful.
A further hearing with full arguments from all sides will now be held for two days starting on October 18.
English League One club Leyton Orient, who are based near the Stratford site of the stadium, have also joined Tottenham in the legal fight and their chairman Barry Hearn hailed the High Court ruling.
"It is a massive victory because we have always felt this is an injustice going on here. They are trying to put a small community club out of business and we are not going to stand for it," Hearn told Sky Sports News.
"I'm just so happy that at least we have a chance to put our case to the full judicial review planned in October now and we are confident that we will win this and West Ham's move to the Olympic Stadium is no way a certainty."
The ruling comes just days after an independent investigation ruled the process that saw West Ham selected ahead of Tottenham was not compromised.
The OPLC called for the inquiry after its corporate services director Dionne Knight was exposed as also having allegedly worked as consultant for West Ham during the bid.
Knight was suspended on full pay while any possible conflict of interest was investigated after she declared a personal relationship with Ian Tompkins, a West Ham director.
After a six-week investigation by auditors Moore Stephens, it was found that Knight did not have access to confidential information and did not pass on any such information to West Ham or anyone else.
West Ham plan to retain the running track after moving into the stadium in time for the 2014-15 season and intend to convert the 80,000-seater venue into a 60,000-capacity arena for football, athletics, concerts and community use.