London Stadium bosses today shelled out a seven-figure sum to UK Athletics to relocate this summer’s Anniversary Games from the capital.
The midweek event, originally scheduled for July 13 on the Olympic Park, has been shifted because of the exorbitant costs – estimated at as much as £3million - of reconfiguring the football seating for a one-off event rather than the usual summer of athletics events and concerts.
UK Athletics had initially dug its heels in over the plan – first revealed in Standard Sport – and threatened legal action against London Stadium owners over their 50-year deal to use the venue for athletics each July as part of a London 2012 legacy.
But the organisation has since conceded on the relocation - expected to be Gateshead - for a fee in excess of £1million.
A spokesperson for LLDC commented: “This event is an important part of London Stadium’s summer schedule and will remain so in future years.
“However, because of the repercussions of the Covid pandemic on other events at the stadium, in particular the usual concert programme, it was important to reach an agreement with UK Athletics to remove the need to reconfigure the stadium for one event. We are grateful that UK Athletics have agreed to a revised proposal that covers the costs of relocation and disruption to their plans.”
Meanwhile, UKA CEO Joanna Coates added: “Our priority has been to stage the event at the London Stadium. Unfortunately, that has proven impossible. As a result, we have agreed to a settlement that allows us to mitigate losses and invest significant resource into the sport to help our athletes succeed. We will now be putting on a world-class event at another UK stadium and will be announcing further details in the near future.”
That decision means the potential for no athletics at the central venue for the London Olympics for as much as three years.
Last year’s Anniversary Games was called off because of the Covid pandemic and the annual event is highly unlikely to be staged next year with a packed athletics calendar including the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Championships.
