Long-term legacy paramount for stadium's future, says AEG President

By Andrew Warshaw

February 6 – The President of AEG Europe, Tottenham Hotspur’s partners in their proposed move to the Olympic Stadium after next year’s London Games, has warned yet again the venue will become a white elephant funded by taxpayers if rivals West Ham are chosen as the preferred bidder.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company is due to decide later thist week which of the two clubs to recommend to the Government for approval.

David Campbell, who is also ceo of the O2 Arena, says only Spurs will provide the long-term legacy that has become paramount.

“There is a lot of emotion out there at the moment,” said Campbell who doesn’t buy the argument that virtually demolishing the site and removing the running track, as Spurs aim to do if successful, would fly in the face of the original commitment to preserve a credible track and field facility.

Rounding on Tottenham’s critics, he said it was always the plan to partially rebuild the Stadium.

“What they were going to do is pull down the top of the stadium and make it a 25,000-seater,” Campbell told LBC Radio.

“That’s what was promised in Singapore [when London were awarded the Olympics in 2005].

“Everyone forgets that.”

“You’ve got to look at the most sustainable bid.

“The other bid has got £40 million ($65 million) worth of [local] Council money which is just crazy.

“I’m not trying to rubbish it but you have to look at long-term sustainability.”

“If they don’t do this right and they go down the road of putting an athletics stadium in, everyone will go, ‘Whoopee’ but by 2020 we’re going to have a very large taxpayer paid white elephant.

“That’s what will happen. Spurs will sell out a 60,000-seater stadium.

“You have to make it work as a business.”

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