West Ham may have to wait beyond the October deadline for the decision to be made on who will be named the new tenants of the Olympic Stadium.
The Hammers are believed to be the front runners to be handed the stadium but it has been revealed today by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) that a decision will not be rushed.
LDCC chief executive Dennis Hone told the Guardian: “If we can’t come to a conclusion, in the scheme of things if it slips another month or two I would rather get the right solution.
“Yes, the stadium is tricky, but it’s tricky because we want to get it right. I would hate to bung someone in there and see it fall apart in five years.
“If it takes a couple of extra months to get there, then so be it.”
The LDCC are considering bids from other organisations including Leyton Orient, a football business college and a firm wanting to host a Formula One rate at the Olympic Park.
But a decision is said to be a lot harder to make due to the level of changes needed to make the stadium fit for purpose for the preferred bidder.
If West Ham are chosen as the stadium’s new tenants, it is thought it would cost around £160million to develop it in to a arena fit for football.
“We have had discussions with all of the bidders. The difficulty is that we are balancing the adaptations we have to make to the stadium against the proposals that have come in and the benefits – financial and otherwise – that those proposals bring.
“If it was a knockout [verdict] it would be an easy decision, but it’s not,” Hone added.
The Hammers hope to become tenants in time for the start of the 2014/2015 season.
