Levy defends Spurs bid | Sky Sports | Football | News

Daniel Levy has defended Spurs' bid for the Olympic Stadium, insisting football and athletics cannot co-exist successfully there.

Spurs and rivals West Ham made their final submissions in a bid to take over the stadium after the 2012 London Games on Friday.

Tottenham's plans would see them demolish the stadium and build a new one without a running track, while rivals West Ham's plan is to keep the structure at a reduced capacity and with the athletics track retained.

But the Spurs chairman insists retaining a running track at the stadium would be"the easy option, but the wrong option".

He said in an open letter to fans:"The easiest option for us would undoubtedly have been to bid for the Olympic Stadium site with a retained athletics track. But it would have been the wrong option.

"The front row seats in the Olympic Stadium with a retained athletics track will be up to 45 metres from the pitch; in our stadium design they would be 8m from the action.

"Football and athletics cannot co-exist successfully in the same stadium.

"There are examples all over the world of where clubs have removed tracks or moved stadiums simply because of the poor spectator experience and the lack of sustainability in the long-term due to decreasing attendances. We never considered for one moment placing our fans in such a stadium environment."

Recommendation

The Olympic Park Legacy Company are to make a recommendation next week and Spurs have even managed to secure the support of Brazil football legend Pele, who wrote a letter to the OPLC backing their plan.

Levy said that should Spurs be chosen as the preferred bidder, the club would have a full consultation process with supporters, a number of whom are campaigning against a move to east London.

The club would also provide an athletics legacy for London by redeveloping the Crystal Palace athletics stadium, which the championship club want to move into themselves.

Levy added:"It (the Olympic Stadium) would rank amongst the finest stadiums in the world and deliver one of the best fan experiences anywhere in Europe.

"Our proposals for the Olympic Stadium site include an iconic 60,000-seater stadium, the construction of which is fully financially guaranteed."

Spurs' original plan of developing a new stadium close to their current home, called the Northumberland Development Project (NDP), is likely to be more costly and troublesome.

Repeat concerns

Levy added:"I must once again repeat the concerns we have about the viability and deliverability of the NDP. The cost of consent has been high.

"No progress has been made with the remaining land owners and this is a potentially costly issue.

"Compulsory Purchase Orders are of course one route to resolving this, but that process is uncertain and can take years to conclude.

"Our guiding principles remain the same - we are committed to taking this club to the next level and an increased capacity stadium is central to that intention; and we have to seek a stadium solution which does not undermine the financial stability of the club or its ability to continue to invest in the first team."

Levy pointed out that Uefa's new financial fair play rules, where clubs in European competition can only spend what they earn, made it imperative that Spurs are able to boost match-day income by moving to a bigger ground.

"Perhaps more importantly, we now have over 35,000 fans on the paid for waiting list for season tickets. It is an astonishing figure and a real reminder of the strength of support for this club,"he said.

"The choice is between standing still or moving forward. A new stadium is critical to our continued success."

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