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West Ham’s Olympic Stadium deal attracts latest scrutiny

West Ham’s deal as operators of the Olympic Stadium is continuing to attract controversy today, as ex Leyton orient chairman Barry Hearn has asked for full public disclosure of the deal.

Whilst West Ham are known to be paying a £15m contribution to the stadium, which has reached a total of £272m, the cost of rent is yet to be disclosed.

Hearn acted as chairman of Orient for nearly 20 years until selling up in 2014. He lost a legal battle to overturn West Ham’s ownership of the stadium, after it was announced that Orient would not gain the right to groundshare.

Hearn told BBC Sport: “Who is it confidential from? I can’t see any reason whatsoever why it should be secret.

“The actual deal West Ham has got is still confidential and our current mayor of London is refusing to reveal details,” he said.

“As a taxpayer, I find that quite confusing. When people spend my money, I rather like to know what it’s been spent on.

“In the absence of that information we can only speculate that it is a deal so beneficial to West Ham that it becomes questionable in its own right.”

West Ham are reported to be paying around £2m in rent on the stadium although the figure is currently undisclosed.

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