Boris Johnson has no issues with financial details of West Ham's move being made public

Boris Johnson would be happy for the details of West Ham's move to be made public

BORIS JOHNSON says he would be "perfectly happy" for the financial details of West Ham's move to the Olympic Stadium to be made public because they have "nothing to hide".

 

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) - set up to ensure the long-term success of the London 2012 site - and West Ham have insisted the deal involving the largely taxpayer-funded stadium should remain private for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

But the Information Commissioner has ruled that the details of the deal should be disclosed and Mayor of London Johnson says he has no problems with that decision.

"I would be perfectly happy to publish the details of the arrangement," he said.

 

"I understand the football club concerned is not so keen because they think it will give other clubs an inside into their finances and so forth."

The Hammers will take on a 99-year deal as anchor tenants starting from next season but the decision to hand West Ham the keys to the stadium has been questioned since it was first announced two and a half years ago.

A BBC documentary aired last month detailed figures it claimed West Ham, co-owned by David Sullivan and David Gold, would be saving due to the agreement with the LLDC, the annual rental fee on the 99-year lease reported to be about £2.5million.

 

The Olympic Stadium will be used during the Rugby World Cup

Johnson was quizzed on the deal by Andrew Dismore, the Labour London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, who said the Mayor had wanted to cover up the "anti-competitive" deal until the Information Commissioner's ruling "because the football has taken you to the cleaners".

"We have been very up front over not publishing the details so far as we have only just concluded the final letting contracts," said Johnson.

"We did not want to put anything out that would impact on our ability to negotiate future contracts. But it should be a matter of public record and we should be very proud that we have got a Premiership football team in that stadium.

"We've got nothing to hide, we've got a very good rental agreement with West Ham and it's fantastic that we will not be spending any more public money on this, so let's get it out there."