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Probe clears Olympic Stadium bid procedure

Auditors Moore Stephens were called in after the Sunday Times newspaper in July said secret payments had been made to an executive on the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC), the body responsible for finding tenants for the venues after the Games.

The OPLC board last February unanimously chose West Ham, later relegated from the Premier League, as preferred bidder to take over the new 486 million pound stadium in east London ahead of city rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The newspaper said the OPLC's corporate services director Dionne Knight had been paid 20,000 pounds by West Ham for consultancy work before and after the decision was made.

West Ham said Knight's work was in relation to the procurement of a construction partner after the Olympics.

The OPLC added that its founder members, the Mayor of London and the government, "concluded that there are no grounds for re-considering their decision to select West Ham United FC and the London Borough of Newham as Preferred Bidder".

West Ham are not out of the woods yet. Tottenham, which planned to remove the track and build a new purpose-built soccer stadium, is pursuing a judicial review of the OPLC's initial decision in the High Court in London.