World athletics chief Lamine Diack said London will have told a “big lie” if the Olympic stadium is converted into a football ground and warned that Britain’s reputation would be ruined as a result.

Premier League rivals West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur want to move into the Olympic venue after the 2012 Games, but under Spurs’ plans the running track will go. West Ham have pledged to retain the track.

“They’ll have made a big lie during their presentation,” International Athletics Association Federation (IAAF) chief Diack told BBC Sport.

“There will be no credibility... of a great country like Britain.”

Diack, a member of the International Olympic Committee, also suggested that if the athletics track was scrapped Britain’s chances of hosting future events would be severely compromised.

“There would be no way to come back as far as my generation is concerned,” he added.

“You can consider you are dead. You are finished.”

Diack, the head of the international athletics body since 1999, insisted that London must keep the promises they made to the IOC when they won the 2012 bid in Singapore and retain the track.

“This nation has a number of heroes in athletics,” he said.

“I could spend an hour, listing one by one all those who have achieved fantastic things in athletics. And this country, this city saying that I’m not able to have a stadium of athletics?” he said.