Fans from Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have formed an unlikely alliance against West Ham in calling for a public enquiry into the rental of the Olympic Stadium.
Due to move into their new home in time for next season, the rent will be subsidised, and one of the more hilarious aspects of all this is the inclusion of Chelsea fans who are concerned that this will give West Ham a ‘competitive advantage’.
With an online petition in place, the coalition has almost 10,000 signatures at the time of writing, after it was uncovered that West Ham had contributed just £15m towards the £72m cost of refurbishing the former Olympic stadium into a football one.
Speaking to the BBC, the coalition said “The fact that so many supporter groups have come together to call for this inquiry shows that the issues raised go beyond football tribalism.
“As football fans and as taxpayers… this shady deal is not in the interests of the game of football and does little to promote public confidence in the way our money is being spent.”
West Ham, however, responded by saying “Our presence underwrites the multi-use legacy of the stadium and our contribution alone will pay back more than the cost of building and converting the stadium.”
Then the London Legacy Development Corporation, who will be helping West Ham pay the rent in a similar way to how Man City helped Tottenham pay Emmanuel Adebayor’s wages, added “The stadium is a publicly-owned multi-use venue that will host 25 West Ham United home matches and many other sporting and entertainment events every year. This contract will ensure commercial success.
“West Ham United secured their anchor tenancy after winning a competitive tender process that was heavily publicised and open to any organisation in the world.”
West Ham’s rent will be £2.5m, just over half of what Man City pay to rent the Etihad. The Hammers earned £76m from their 12th place finish in the league last season.
Spurs and Chelsea will have to pay between £11m and £15m to rent Wembley should they ever get around to building new stadiums.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have almost paid off all their debt from building their own new stadium and have had help from no-one for anything.
Just saying.