West Ham accuse London Stadium owners of lying to public to cover their financial problems
Hammers furious at repeated attempts by London Legacy Development Corporation to paint them as the bad guys while the former Olympic Stadium struggles to avoid insolvency
WEST HAM have accused the London Stadium owners of lying to the taxpayers in an attempt to shift the blame of their financial problems onto the club.
The Hammers are fuming the supremo of the London Legacy Development Corporation which controls the ground labelled their tenancy as the "elephant in the room" regarding the company's plight which saw them lose £22million last year.
Lyn Garner's statement this week came just days after E20, who run the London Stadium, wrongly suggested West Ham had not paid some of their bills which prompted a furious reaction from the club.
Now the Premier League side have come out to claim the public are being deliberately lied to so they are painted as the bad guys in the situation.
A Hammers statement given to SunSport said: "West Ham United are concerned that this is deliberately misleading the public and, more importantly, taxpayers.
"West Ham now pay £3m in rent due to additional annual fees that have been introduced since our agreement in 2013 and a further £6m was received by our landlord from the food and beverage sold at our matches.
"With additional fees we pay for services at the London Stadium, the total revenues received from West Ham United and our activities is £10m a year.
"The current strategy to point the finger at West Ham United is simply not the solution to the long-term viability and commercial success of the venue.
"We are running a football club, not the stadium, and for Ms Garner to lay any blame for their financial struggles at our door is wrong and misleading the public."
The failure to sell naming rights to the former Olympic Stadium has been a major disappointment.
But West Ham say they have made repeated attempts to help with the process, only to be met by a brick wall of defiance from E20 and the LLDC.
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The statement added: "Ms Garner pointed out that E20 would not allow our pitch surround to be in our club colours because the LLDC are seeking a commercial deal for stadium naming rights and the track might be part of that negotiation.
"The Premier League do not allow commercial sponsor logos on pitch surrounds and therefore that can’t happen. It is again misleading.
"Ms Garner went on to suggest that the colour alone may have value for a future naming rights partner. The Stadium does not have a naming rights partner, nor is one being actively sought.
"West Ham United have offered to help LLDC sell the naming rights and other commercial deals using our expertise of running the commercial side of a football club and its stadium. They have declined.
"West Ham have offered to fully fund the pitch surround for £400,000 if it is claret.
"Are LLDC really saying it is in the taxpayers’ interests for them to pay and wait in case LLDC might attract a naming rights partner who might see some value in the cover being in their corporate colours?"