Brady slams Spurs plans
West Ham vice-chairman Karren Brady claims it would be a "corporate crime to bring the bulldozers in" and demolish the Olympic Stadium at the end of the 2012 Games for Tottenham to build a new home.
Both the Hammers and their Barclays Premier League rivals are bidding to take over the venue once the Olympics have finished. However, while West Ham would retain the athletics track as part of the commitment to legacy, Spurs would instead tear down the stadium and build a new football-only venue.
"It's a corporate crime to spend £500m on a stadium and, just four weeks after the Games have finished, bring the bulldozers in," Brady told BBC Breakfast.
A decision on the future of the Olympic Park site is expected later this week, having been initially delayed from January 28 to allow more time to consider the rival bids.
Npower League One club Leyton Orient fear for their long-term future should a Premier League club move within striking distance of their Brisbane Road home, while the Olympic Park Legacy Company also has a third option of converting the stadium into a 25,000-seat mixed-use venue for sporting, cultural and community events.
IAAF president Lamine Diack, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee member, maintains Britain's reputation will be "dead" if an athletics legacy is not left at the Olympic Stadium, with both London 2012 chairman Lord Coe and former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell throwing their weight behind West Ham's bid, which is a joint venture with Newham Council.
Brady added: "The Olympic Stadium was built on a promise, made in the Queen's name, to have a legacy for athletics.
"Through [West Ham's] design there will be over £90m spent on reconfiguring the stadium so it sits perfectly for athletics and football and cricket and major events.
"Once the conversion is done, with the roof and some of the seats, there won't be a single seat within that stadium that has a worse view of the pitch than Wembley."
If successful, Tottenham, joint bidders with sports and entertainment company AEG, intend to contribute to the refurbishment of the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace.
