The showpiece £580 million stadium in the Stratford project is semi-temporary with the capacity being reduced from 80,000 to 25,000 once the Olympics is over.

 

London's winning bid promised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that an athletics track would be part of the legacy -- a feature that makes it unpopular for football clubs.

 

However, with no long-term tenant signed up and with fears over how the global economic crisis will impact on London 2012 there have been suggestions by the city's Mayor Boris Johnson that the stadium could be taken over by a top London football club.

 

Premiership clubs West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have both held preliminary discussions with London 2012 officials but with chairman Sebastian Coe committed to the stadium retaining a legacy for athletics talks have broken down.

 

NowJohn Armitt, the chairman of the ODA, has all but ruled that out the possibility of a top club moving into the Stadium during an interview broadcast on BBC Radio 5 tonight.

 

He said: "We had a legacy commitment to ensure the stadium was to be used for athletes and athletics.

 

"You then have to say; is it possible to mix a Premier League club with an athletics stadium and that's not easy.

 

"I think the likelihood of those two things ever coming together was always slim because we have this commitment to an athletics stadium.

 

"If you wanted to use it for a Premier League football club you would have to completely redesign it and I think we have gone past that point."

 

Armitt confirmed that talks had been held with rugby clubs while lower league football clubs could also be interested in using the stadium.