Leyton Orient Chairman Makes Bung Accusation

September 30, 2011

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has accused London Mayor Boris Johnson of offering Tottenham Hotspur “a bung” in an attempt to persuade the club to drop their claim to the Olympic Stadium to remove the main obstacle for London’s 2017 World Athletics Championships bid.

Johnson wants the Premier League club to drop their legal action over the award of the Olympic Stadium to West Ham United and is helping to finance a £17 million ($27 million) package in infrastructure improvements to the club to develop a new ground next to White Hart Lane.

The Mayor’s Office and Sport, and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson, are urging Tottenham to abandon a judicial review that is scheduled to be heard in the High Court next month before an Evaluation Commission from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) arrives in London on October 1 to inspect the city’s bid. There is concern that the legal battle could drag on and potentially damage the bid. 

Leyton Orient will pursue their application for judicial review of the Olympic Stadium decision because they believe the proximity of it to their current ground at Brisbane Road will put them out of business. Orient Chairman Barry Hean said: “Boris has made his move to try and placate Tottenham and if I’m being cynical, it looks like a bung just to get him out of a court case. I come from the real world and I can recognise a bung when I see it.”

The London Mayor’s office rejected the suggestion that the £17 million offer from the Greater London Authority and Haringey Council to help fund the development the Northumberland Development Project inappropriate. A spokesman for Boris Johnson said: “To suggest that the proposed offer from the GLA and Haringey Council towards Tottenham Hotspur is an inappropriate use of funds is entirely inaccurate.”

Hearn said his club will pursue action in the High Court on October 18 against Newham Borough Council and the Olympic Park Legacy Company and are claiming that West Ham are being given a “state subsidy” in taking over the Olympic Stadium.

Hearn said “Frankly, West Ham are getting a great deal. [Co-owner] David Gold said, and I quote: “We know the Stadium’s not perfect but this is a £600 million ($937 million) stadium and we’re getting it for £30 million ($47 million).” Well, good luck to him, but if that’s not state aid then I don’t know what is. The one little outfit that’s being completely overlooked is little Leyton Orient, and the community work they do, which is supposed to be so important in the world in which we live.”