It's like someone gave us the keys and changed the locks, says West Ham's Brady over Olympic Stadium debacle

By David Gold

February 6 – West Ham vice chair Karren Brady (pictured) has said the club is still committed to a move to the Olympic Stadium.

The Hammers are one of 16 interested parties looking at bidding for the right to move into the Stratford venue after this summer’s Games in London, for which formal bids must be in by March 23.

Last year, the club originally won the right to move into the stadium after London 2012, but the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) then withdrew from negotiations with the club amid a legal challenge from defeated rivals Tottenham Hotspur and re-launched the tender process.

The OPLC, which is being reformed in April as a Mayoral Development Corporation, is now looking for a tenant for the stadium so that it remains in public hands, and Brady told The Independent that the decision to restart the process had been frustrating.

“My biggest disappointment is that I spent two years of my life getting to be preferred bidder for the Olympic Stadium,” she said.

“It was their competition, their rules, and we abided by that, and then not being the preferred bidder, and having to go through another process, is like someone giving you the keys and then changing the locks.

“We should now be planning a future there, as opposed to having to go back and review everything.”

Brady insisted though that despite the delay the club was committed to the prospective move.

“I wouldn’t be dragging my body to all the meetings, or reading through a 900-page document every night, if we weren’t still committed,” she said.

“We do genuinely believe that we could make the stadium a success, both in terms of our physical presence, and encouraging football supporters to become involved in other sports.”

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