A 2012 Olympic Park Legacy Company executive has been suspended after a Sunday newspaper revealed she had been working for West Ham, the football team which won the bid to take over the main stadium. The OPLC board voted 14-0 in February to make the Hammers the first choice to move into the £486 million ($776 million) Olympic Stadium once the London Games are over, edging out Tottenham Hotspur.
The future of the 80,000-seater venue in Stratford, east London, has been a bone of contention, trying to match the Games organisers' pledge for an athletics legacy with the need to make the stadium viable in the long term. West Ham confirmed that OPLC director of corporate services Dionne Knight had carried out consultancy work for the east London football club but vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Knight is in a relationship with West Ham director Ian Tompkins, who spearheaded the club's bid to take over the stadium. The OLPC said it knew about the relationship but had not given permission to undertake any work for West Ham, who were relegated from the English Premier League in May. The body has suspended her pending a probe. The Sunday Times newspaper claimed the payments totalled £20,000 ($32,000, 22,000 euros).
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