by Stuart Fuller

Here is a little secret for West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur awaiting the decision on who will get the Olympic Stadium next week. Whisper it quietly, but football fans rarely want to watch football in an Olympic Stadium. Why do I say that? Well a simple look at similar structures around the world, built for non-football events reveals quite a bit. The prospect of an Olympic Games being awarded to a city sends them into construction meltdown, over promising and in most cases under delivering on the legacy of the games. The whole story of whether a stadium will have an athletics track or not is not a new thing. We all know that at the end of the day politics will win the day, and we have seen all sorts of stories in the past few weeks about who will do what when/if they win the bid.

A London Olympic Bid for 2012 - House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2003

Third Report of Session 2002-03

An enquiry into the Government's decision making process on whether to support a London bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. Completed shortly before the Cabinet decision to proceed with the bid. Excerpts -

Cheap tickets for kids from the host boroughs? You betcha!
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Alternatively, in the words of Greenwich's 'Great Leader':

Greenwich Council has accused LOCOG of making “secret deals” to price out thousands of youngsters from the host boroughs from watching the sports.

Olympics Bid London 2012
Probability assessment for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport

Price Waterhouse Coopers, January 2003

Olympic Games Impact Study: Final Report Dec 2005

Produced by Price Waterhouse Coopers for the DCMS to assess the likely national, regional and local impacts of hosting the Olympics in London.

The Olympic Bid - Blair explains what it was really about - having an alibi at the scene of the crime, winning with the help of his friend Silvio, manipulation British style and avoiding humiliation at the hands of the French!