LONDON: Tottenham has registered its interest in moving into London’s Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games despite announcing on Friday that it has final approval from local government to redevelop current ground.
Tottenham said in a statement it has joined with American sports and entertainment company AEG to match English Premier League rival West Ham in expressing an interest. AEG runs the former Millennium Dome site near the Olympic Park as the successful O2 Arena concert venue.
Haringey Council granted Tottenham permission late Thursday for a 56,250-capacity ground adjacent to its White Hart Lane stadium after the club tweaked the plans following an initial rejection in January.
But Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy acknowledged that the club was looking at the Olympic Stadium despite previously asserting repeatedly that its preferred option is to replace its aging home with a new ground on the site.
"It is only prudent and good management that we ensure that we investigate all possible options for the club," Levy said. "We were informed by the Olympic Park Legacy Company that were we not to register an interest at this time, there would not be an opportunity at any future date.
"We have always maintained that we wouldn’t undertake any project that could undermine the overall financial stability and future success of the club and this shall remain our guiding principle going forward and in determining our best option in the interests of the club and all its fans and stakeholders."
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has been based at the 36,310-seat White Hart Lane since 1899 but is looking for a bigger stadium to increase revenue.
"Our discussions with THFC and the submission shows what we believe is a strong and viable option for the future of the Olympic Stadium," AEG said in a statement. "THFC is a well run, financially secure club with 20 million fans worldwide.
"They sell out their current stadium to capacity and with 32,000 fans on a paid-for season ticket waiting list, our partnership with them, we believe, would be a guaranteed success."
Tottenham’s proposed new stadium was included as a possible venue in England’s bid to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022, although organizers also have Wembley and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in London.
The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium is designed to be reduced to 25,000 seats after the games, but those plans could be changed. West Ham, which is based at the 35,000-capacity Upton Park, would adapt the Olympic Stadium to 60,000 seats but, like all bidders, is obliged to retain the running track in the stadium.
West Ham was the only one of more than 100 potential tenants of the 537 million-pound ($853 million) Olympic Stadium to publicly discuss its plans on Thursday’s deadline day.
The Olympic Stadium is situated on a 560-acre (227-hectare) site in a once rundown industrial swath of east London and is part of one of Britain’s biggest renovation projects in decades.
West Ham is currently based just 3½ km from the Olympic Stadium in east London, while Tottenham is 5½ km away in north London.
