Soccer club could impact 2012 London Park

Uncertainty over whether a soccer club will move into the main Olympic stadium after the London 2012 Games is undermining overall legacy planning, a London Assembly report said yesterday.

The main stadium is potentially one of the most important venues for attracting jobs and investment to the Olympic Park in east London, and a soccer club could affect its character, the Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism committee said.

It also warned that unless action is taken on other legacy promises, "the Olympics will fail to deliver".

"The arrival of a Premier League football team in the middle of the Olympic Park may affect the character of the park and its surroundings," it said.

Soccer, rugby and cricket clubs have expressed an interest, the latest being the new owners of Premier League club West Ham United, but they have been put off by the organisers' commitment to retain an athletics track around the pitch.

The committee, in its last report in July, warned that without decisive action in finding an anchor tenant, the stadium "is in danger of becoming a white elephant".