Rugby World Cup 2015
Rugby World Cup 2015 line up Olympic Stadium
ESPN Staff
September 11, 2012
The Olympics Stadium could be used in the 2015 World Cup © PA Photos
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The organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup are keen on using the Olympic Stadium for the tournament but any discussions are currently held up due to its ambiguous future.

With the Olympics and the Paralympics now at an end, the topic of who will use the Stadium in the future is likely to rear its head once again. West Ham are understood to still be keen on using the stadium but they are one of a few parties keen on taking over the 80,000 capacity ground.

ER 2015's chief operating officer Ross Young claims the process is "still on-going" in deciding which grounds host the tournament with each prospective host city asked to submit their proposals this week.

"We have the option of using the Olympic Park to stage matches and that is at the forefront of our minds,' Young is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail. "The issue we have is that they (Olympic Park Legacy Company) have gone through a number of options in terms of the long-term use of the stadium. That process is still on-going and it doesn't fit into the time-line we have to operate within. The issue is we can't get finite answers.

"We will give the Olympic Park Legacy Company more time to come back to us with the answers we need. Their major workload doesn't just stop with the parade in London, so what we've said to them is to come back to us as soon as is practicable.

"When you've got a venue which worked as well as it has, with twice the number of people to get in and out (compared to projected attendances for World Cup matches), then it would be naïve not to consider it.

"The first thing we have to answer is whether top-level rugby could be played at that venue, but for now we don't have that info.

"Once the draw has been made, our time-line will involve the match schedule being finalised in the first quarter of next year. Until then, there is flexibility in terms of venue selection, but if that time comes and there are still too many question marks over the Olympic Park, then we will have to decide whether to hold on any longer or allocate games to other stadiums."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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