Report to blame West ham agreement for Stadium losses

A long overdue report into the London Stadium commissioned last year by the London Mayor, Sadiq Kahn will blame the ‘onerous’  99-year agreement the public body entered into with West Ham when the report is released at the beginning of November.

Moore Stephens were paid £140,000 to produce an independent report on the narrative explanation of the history of the London Stadium, understand key decision points and investigate the ongoing financial viability of the stadium.

The draft report is understood to be around 230 pages long but pinpoints the two tender processes and agreements with West Ham as the significant reasons why the London Stadium is not financially viable.

In a recent London Assembly budget monitoring committee, Martin Clarke from LLDC said the Moore Stephens report would concentrate on pivotal decisions around ending the first failed stadium disposal process in which West Ham were initially awarded the stadium with Newham before a state aid complaint scuppered it and the second disposal process in which West Ham were awarded the 99-year tenancy.  “They are two key milestones they are focussed on”  Clarke confirmed.

West Ham insists no-one from Moore Stephens contacted them during the investigation despite making themselves fully available.

A senior source close to West Ham told Claret and Hugh “We were surprised that no one from Moore Stephens has contacted us, despite us making ourselves available to them as we have operated stadiums for 25 years profitably”

Inevitably the press will turn on West Ham after the publication of the report rather than the politicians and public officers who the miscalculated stadium running costs  and mismanaged the stadium disposal that offered the Hammers the so-called ‘deal of the century’