The Olympic board held its regular meeting today. One of the items on the agenda was the Olympic stadium.

STATEMENT BY THE OLYMPIC BOARD

The Olympic board held its regular meeting today. One of the items on the agenda was the Olympic stadium.

The Board reiterated that the priority was to deliver an Olympic stadium on time and on budget. The board unanimously decided today, therefore, that it would not be possible to deliver this in collaboration with West Ham, or indeed any other Premier League football club, due to the number of design changes and associated time delays that the West Ham proposal would incur.

The Olympic Board is committed to delivering on its commitment to the communities of London and the IOC to have a sustainable athletics and community sports-for-all concept in legacy. They discussed a report on legacy that shows the ''Living Stadium'' concept - with a mixed sport offering combined with commercial, school and community use - is the most compelling option to delivering the legacy ambition.

The Olympic Board has now commissioned further detailed work on this concept.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, told the Board that he is anxious to assist and support West Ham''s plans for developing and securing the future of the club and that, following discussions with him, West Ham United are now exploring with the London Development Agency (LDA) the possibility of relocating and building a new stadium. One of the options being considered is the former Parcelforce site owned by the LDA next to West Ham Underground Station.

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