Decisions taken by Boris Johnson as the mayor of London to convert the Olympic Stadium for West Ham United’s use cost almost £300m of public money and have saddled the stadium operator with annual losses of about £20m, a highly critical review has found. The current publicly owned operator, E20, is losing £10-£20m a year, the report stated – including losing £2.25m hosting West Ham to play football, which costs £4.75m a season. Khan announced that he, through the mayoral body the London Legacy Development Corporation, will take control of the stadium and seek to staunch its losses. Spurs’ proposed cost of £323m was to be met by the club commercially borrowing, naming rights and £35m public money. West Ham, then seeking £75m public money towards a £95m proposal for the stadium to have 60,000 seats and keep the running track permanently, were chosen.

Source: The Guardian December 01, 2017 11:29 UTC