West Ham blasted by London Stadium owners over ‘misleading the public’
London Legacy Development Corporation hit back following the club's comments and demand the West Ham retract their statement
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LONDON STADIUM chiefs have hit back at West Ham for accusing them of “misleading the public”.
The Hammers last week blasted their landlords, the London Legacy Development Corporation, in a press release after CEO Lyn Garner claimed the club’s rent does not cover event-day costs at a London Assembly meeting.
But the LLDC have refuted the Premier League outfit’s allegation in a letter to City Hall, seen by SunSport, as relations between the two parties hit an all-time low.
It read: “Following that (London Assembly) appearance, West Ham United released a public statement in which we were accused of misleading the public during our appearance.
“This is an extremely serious and damaging statement to make against public officials appearing before elected Assembly Members and will be asking West Ham to retract the claim.
“It remains a fact that the West Ham usage fee does not cover event day costs.”
The letter proceeded to crunch the numbers involved in West Ham’s leasing of the ground, branding the club’s figure for costs incurred per year of £10million as “simply wrong”.
It confirmed the Irons pay £3m a season plus a share of the profits from match-day catering.
But the LLDC average those profits at £30,000 per game - in contrast to the club’s number of £6m a year.
While the organisation are insisting West Ham cough up annually if they want to cover the track surrounding the pitch in claret-and-blue carpet.
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The Hammers pledged to pay a one-off fee of £380,000 to replace the current green carpet - but the LLDC want an yearly payment of £300,000 to cover the commercial benefits of pitchside branding.
The letter, penned by LLDC chair Sir Peter Hendy, continued: “If they don’t agree to pay an annual fee then they can’t have what they want - it’s as simple as that.”
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The LLDC also denied West Ham’s claim that they declined the club’s help in finding a naming rights partner.
The landlords insist they did use an agent of the club’s choice, and came close on two occasions to securing a partner, but a deal could not be reached.
Tensions between both parties, which escalated after a row over the stadium honours board erupted before the start of the season, look no closer to easing.