Brazilian superstar against retaining running track after 2012
Pele has joined the call for Tottenham Hotspur to move to the 2012 Olympics Stadium.
In a letter obtained by Sky Sports News, the Brazilian great has written to the Olympic Park Legacy Company pledging support for Spurs' bid to take control of the Stratford site once it has hosted the Games.
Tottenham and West Ham United are both fighting to take control of the site with the Olympic Park Legacy Company receiving final submissions from both bidding parties on Friday ahead of a decision next week.
But Pele has given Spurs' bid a shot in the arm, telling Olympics organisers he supports the club's aim to create a dedicated football ground which would provide "a great stadium".
He adds: "I really don't understand wanting to play with a track around the pitch. The players won't like it and it probably won't last.
"As a player you need to feel the passion and the intensity of the fans. The best stadiums connect the fans to the pitch and if you lose that, you lose something that really matters - and eventually you lose the fans.
"The Olympics is special too and it would be good to see a decision taken which means that we see excitement and great sport experiences follow it too."
The Hammers have said they plan to retain the running track but Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has insisted that his former club would be wrong to move to the Olympic Stadium.
The bids from the two Premier League clubs differ greatly, coming at the stadium from completely different angles.
West Ham have confirmed they intend to keep the track, which was a pledge made as part of London's legacy for the Olympics, while Tottenham have proposed a complete rebuild of the site, with a new 60,000 stadium not including an athletics option.
To offset their lack of a running track, Spurs have pledged to help finance the refurbishment of the National Sports Centre, but to complicate matters Crystal Palace announced their intention to move there only this week.
In a letter obtained by Sky Sports News, the Brazilian great has written to the Olympic Park Legacy Company pledging support for Spurs' bid to take control of the Stratford site once it has hosted the Games.
Tottenham and West Ham United are both fighting to take control of the site with the Olympic Park Legacy Company receiving final submissions from both bidding parties on Friday ahead of a decision next week.
But Pele has given Spurs' bid a shot in the arm, telling Olympics organisers he supports the club's aim to create a dedicated football ground which would provide "a great stadium".
He adds: "I really don't understand wanting to play with a track around the pitch. The players won't like it and it probably won't last.
"As a player you need to feel the passion and the intensity of the fans. The best stadiums connect the fans to the pitch and if you lose that, you lose something that really matters - and eventually you lose the fans.
"The Olympics is special too and it would be good to see a decision taken which means that we see excitement and great sport experiences follow it too."
The Hammers have said they plan to retain the running track but Spurs boss Harry Redknapp has insisted that his former club would be wrong to move to the Olympic Stadium.
The bids from the two Premier League clubs differ greatly, coming at the stadium from completely different angles.
West Ham have confirmed they intend to keep the track, which was a pledge made as part of London's legacy for the Olympics, while Tottenham have proposed a complete rebuild of the site, with a new 60,000 stadium not including an athletics option.
To offset their lack of a running track, Spurs have pledged to help finance the refurbishment of the National Sports Centre, but to complicate matters Crystal Palace announced their intention to move there only this week.
Adamant
But Redknapp is adamant that West Ham should not move into the stadium with a running track.
"We keep hearing about the Olympic legacy and the need to have a world-class athletics stadium after the 2012 Games in London," he said in his Sun column.
"But my big fear is that if West Ham move into the stadium in Stratford with a whacking great running track around the pitch, the only legacy for them will be a nightmare.
"It's incredible that the club is even considering taking over the Olympic Stadium and keeping the 400m track intact, putting up an invisible yet insurmountable barrier between the fans and the football.
"Tottenham, my club, also have ambitions to move there because if Spurs want to progress they need a bigger ground - but they have a vastly different outlook on the project.
"I'm not just banging the company drum for Tottenham here. Even if Spurs do win the race against West Ham to make it their new home, by the time all the development is finished I might not be at the club anyway.
"It's just that in my heart I dread to think what could eventually happen to West Ham if they moved to the main Olympic Stadium and do not heed the warnings."
There are those who disagree with Redknapp, including the head of world athletics, Lamine Diack - who insists London must keep the Olympic running track.
"To now demolish the Olympic stadium, throwing away the original £500million investment of public money, seems to me an outrageous proposition, especially in the present world economic climate," said Diack.
But Tottenham director Sir Keith Mills, who is also deputy chairman of LOCOG - London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games - insists Tottenham's plans could work.
"Lamine Diack quite rightly wants to see the Olympic legacy left in London and both of the bids on the table provide an athletics legacy," he said.
"The issue here, and the one the OPLC will be looking at in the next 10 days, is what's going to provide the best long-term legacy for London and for the country.
"And that's all about which of the two bids is going to be economically viable in the long term."
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