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Van Commenee criticises Olympic Stadium plans

Athletics head coach Charles van Commenee warns the standard of athletics will drop if London's Olympic Stadium is not kept for the purpose it was intended © Getty Images

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Charles van Commenee, the UK Athletics head coach, has criticised the current plans for the future of London's 2012 Olympic Stadium, warning they could have an adverse effect on the sport.

The discussion about the future of the stadium after the Games is well underway, with two football clubs making firm proposals. Premier League club Tottenham are hoping to demolish the stadium and rebuild their own, purpose-built football venue on the same site. West Ham United have lodged a rival bid, which will retain the current stadium structure and its ability to host athletics events, with a decision set to be made in the near future.

Van Commenee believes there is only one decision that will not adversely affect London and British athletics in future - keeping the stadium as originally intended.

"If London doesn't have a stadium where we can organise major championships in athletics, that puts you in a category in Europe that I can't even think of," Van Commenee said. "Is there any capital in Europe that can't do this? Even Vilnius or Tallinn (the capitals of Lithuania and Estonia) can do that. Maybe the capital of Albania doesn't have a stadium, I don't know.

"I'm astonished when I see all these articles, that there's even a discussion. I think get on with it, ridiculous."

Tottenham's plan, believed in some quarters to be the favourite, pledges to redevelop the Crystal Palace athletics stadium for future use. But, having promised in the initial bidding process for the Olympic Games to return the stadium as part of the event's legacy, Van Comenee believes even that compromise would be unacceptable.

"No, not to me," Van Commenee said, when asked whether the Crystal Palace redevelopment proposal was a satisfactory alternative. "We want the Olympic Stadium and that was the promise."

West Ham's bid has its own detractors, however. Simon Clegg, the former chief executive of the British Olympic Association who played a key role in bringing the games to London, is unconvinced by the prospect of keeping a running track within a stadium used predominantly for football.

"It is quite obvious that the only viable model for the stadium is to have a football club as an anchor tenant," said Clegg, who is now chief executive at Ipswich Town. "I am very clear that it is not compatible to have football and track and field athletics in the same stadium in this country. Football fans in this country want to be as close to the action as possible.

"I articulated this to [chairman of the Games organising committee] Sebastian Coe a couple of years ago but the issue has become even more acute for me since I have been involved in a club. The West Ham option would be a huge challenge and I don't think it would work. The entire bid was based on the principle of sustainable legacy and not creating white elephants and only 17 months out from the Games we have still not resolved the thorny issue of future of the stadium.

"It's madness to suggest we should keep a track just on the basis we may get an athletics World Championships or European Championships say once every 15-20 years."

Clegg is in favour of Tottenham's bid, although not as it currently stands. He believes any replacement athletics stadium most also be built in east London.

"It does seem to me the best solution for the Olympic Stadium would be Tottenham's proposal, but on the proviso of a track and field legacy elsewhere in east London rather than Crystal Palace which is in the wrong place and where public transport links are not good," he said. "For me the East End must have a sustainable athletics legacy and it would need to be another new site in east London."

The Olympic Park Legacy Company is scheduled to meet on January 28, when they are expected to decide on their preferred bidder.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.