London Stadium’s cash crisis revealed
THE difficulties facing the financially- stricken London Stadium and the decisions that have caused its problems are shortly going to be laid bare. The London Assembly have issued a summons notice for the annual accounts of stadium landlords E20, saying not enough information was forthcoming.
It’s expected that the E20 figures will reveal massive debts that will greatly impact on the current value of the £753million stadium that earned iconic status during the 2012 Olympics and now houses West Ham United.
Also due to be published soon is the report — commissioned by London mayor Sadiq Khan — by forensic accountants Moore Stephens into the reasons for the rise in the cost of converting the stadium from athletics to football. In 2016 the cost rose by £51m, from £272m to £323m.
Moore Stephens are expected to highlight other causes, apart from the price of retractable seating. These might go back to the original flawed blueprint of moving from a London 2012 venue to a 20,000- seater dedicated athletics centre with no planning for a football tenant, plus former London mayor Boris Johnson’s vanity project of agreeing to host five 2015 Rugby World Cup games in the Stratford stadium.
This unnecessary complication added significantly to the costs of making the stadium fit for Premier League football, which should have been the objective from day one.