New OS controversy as 'state aid' questioned

  • by Staff Writer
  • Tuesday, 21st April 2015

Fresh controversy regarding West Ham's move to the Olympic Stadium has arisen after it was claimed that the club and its partners failed to follow rules and regulations with regard to state aid.

It has been revealed that West Ham and its associates may have left themselves open to a multi-million pound compensation claim after the club, along with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) were accused of failing to follow proper procedure regarding European state aid law.

West Ham, the LLDC and Newham Council have received around £140million from the public purse in order to make the stadium fit for Premier League football - a figure they could be made to pay back if the parties involved are found to have been in breach of protocol.

According to sources in the Guardian, West Ham and their partners should have applied for prior approval for state aid - a procedure that publicly-funded schemes of such size are advised to adhere to.

Yet having failed to follow that procedure, the consortium have potentially left themselves open to yet another legal challenge - a situation that has left commentators mystified.

According to Oskar van Maaren of the Asser Institute, West Ham and their partners would have perfectly aware of the requirements. "Notification would prevent complaints being launched in the future," he told the Guardian.

"Given that complaints have been launched in the past regarding similar measures that involved the Olympic Stadium, chances are that this will happen again."

However a spokesman for West Ham told the newspaper: "Without West Ham United, the stadium would continue to cost the taxpayer millions of pounds a year.

"With us, the public purse will see a return on the hundreds of millions of pounds that were committed to build the stadium, long before West Ham’s association had begun.”

For more on this story, read Owen Gibson at the Guardian.

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