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West Ham in new stadium row

West Ham United are in dispute with their London Stadium landlord over the colour of the material that surrounds the pitch. They are worried that it will resemble the navy blue of their rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The athletics track round the stadium is covered with a green material. West Ham have successfully lobbied to have this removed as it is too similar to the colour of the grass.

The club want it to be claret to match their colours and have offered to pay the cost of £200,000 and maintenance.

The dispute to get the colour altered is one of four cases West Ham have won after the club took legal action. The cases were referred to an independent legal expert by an 'expert determination' process. The others were about who should pick up the bill for a series of costs including providing draught beer, televisions and hospitality staff.

The expert ruling did not cover the colour of the surround and the London Legacy Development Corporation says it wants to get the best deal for the taxpayer. This sounds a bit like sour grapes as it is not clear to me how a dark blue colour would be of greater benefit to the taxpayer. They also claim that they are concerned about the sponsorship potential of the pitch surround, although what that might be is also not clear to me.

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