KEN LIVINGSTONE is the latest to put the boot into Tottenham’s bid to move into the Olympic Stadium, this time on environmental grounds.


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“I would be horrified at the thought, if Tottenham get it, that you demolish a stadium we’ve just spent £400M building and then build a new one,” the former London Mayor told local government magazine The MJ.

“The carbon cost of a stadium is horrendous.”

In contrast to Tottenham, who want to tear down the Olympic stadium after 2012, rival bidders West Ham aim to keep most of the structure intact, a plan which has Livingstone’s support.

“To demolish it? There’s a carbon footprint cost here which is just not acceptable,” he said.

“If they decide to go for West Ham, then you have football and athletics there, that’s fine.”

With current Mayor Boris Johnson rumoured to be backing the Tottenham take-over of the Olympic facility, there is now a clear political edge to the battle between two of London’s most famous football clubs.

If that wasn’t enough, a third club, Crystal Palace, has also now entered the mix with a scheme of their own which won’t make happy reading for Tottenham’s owners.

To keep the athletics crowd sweet, Tottenham have proposed to re-build London’s current main track and field venue at Crystal Palace. But this week Crystal Palace (the football club) are to unveil plans to move to the very same Crystal Palace athletics stadium, just a few miles from their current home.

Confused? You will be, but not for too long as the Olympic Park Legacy Committee make a final decision between Tottenham and West Ham in March.