- West Ham may be asked to leave the London Stadium to accommodate the 2029 World Athletics Championships
- It would require all of West Ham’s home games for September that season to be played elsewhere
- West Ham are not currently cooperating
West Ham United have been at the London Stadium for just under ten years but they may be asked to leave it for a short period, in-season, in the future.
Lord Sebastian Coe wants the Hammers to vacate their home stadium to accommodate the 2029 World Athletics Championships. This would require West Ham to play their home games elsewhere for a spell during the 2029/30 season.
The locations for the World Championships is in the process of being chosen, with Rome, Munich and Nairobi also in the running to host the event. Should Lord Coe’s London be selected, the London Stadium is the proposed main arena for the events.
West Ham may have to play their home games elsewhere
At present, West Ham‘s home is still the go-to stadium when it comes to athletics events, having been built to host them for London’s 2012 Olympic Games. Despite this, the timing of the event would mean the Hammers would need to vacate for almost all of September that season.
So far, the club are choosing not to cooperate, stating a contractual obligation to prioritise hosting West Ham’s football in the stadium.
Via The Guardian, Lord Coe suggested that West Ham should allow the games to take place, citing the favourable deal in place when they moved to the stadium after leaving Upton Park.
“I’ve sat on the board of one Premier League club, and I’m very close to another one, and I think they would have been pretty satisfied with that deal,” he said.
The Olympic gold medallist continued: “All I would say is that I would hope that there is a recognition that outside the Olympic Games and the World Cup, this is the third-largest sporting gathering in a four-year cycle.
“I do ask cities to try to accommodate us. There has to be a recognition that it’s a big global sport. This is not a gimme to anyone.”
The initial deadline for for the London bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships is 9th April, but things do not have to finalised until August.
