Concerns over the financial situation of West Ham United’s London Stadium has led London Assembly members to demand to see the records of the company that owns the Premier League football club’s home ground.
E20 Stadium LLP, a joint venture between the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) and Newham Council, is the owner of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games stadium.
The £752m (€843m/$1bn) stadium could be heading towards insolvency as the cost of converting it from an athletics venue to a football ground repeatedly surpassed estimates.
Due to these financial concerns, the assembley’s budget and performance committee has issued a summons notice for E20’s 2016-17 accounts.
In a statement, the committee’s chairman Gareth Bacon said: “This company spends vast amounts of public money and we know it is in financial difficulty.
“But we have been prevented from seeing the accounts of E20 Stadium LLP. Why?
“The assembly needs this information immediately so we can assess whether (London Mayor Sadiq Khan) is making the right decisions when it comes to the London Stadium and Olympic legacy.
“The assembly needs to do its job of scrutinising the issues that matter to London, unhindered.”
Last November, Khan ordered a review into the venue and it is due to receive the report by the end of this month.
An LLDC spokesperson said: “LLDC and Newham Council are working closely with E20, the London Stadium’s owners, to address the long-standing financial challenges in the best interests of the residents of Newham and Londoners.
“A decision about the future of E20 and the stadium will be made by the Mayor alongside the publication of the Moore Stephens review.”
Last month, E20 Stadium announced it planned to target more major music concerts and sporting events as it strived to ease concerns over its long-term financial future.
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