Sadiq Khan to take over control of London Stadium

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, will try and fix what his predecessor Boris Johnson broke.

An independent review of London Stadium was published on Friday, revealing a "catalogue of errors" that left taxpayers footing an annual loss of around £20 million. Moore Stephens was commissioned to lead the review in March to help understand how decisions were made about its transformation and the reason behind high costs.

"I ordered the review into the finances of the London Stadium to understand how key decisions were made about its transformation and why costs were allowed to spiral out of control," Khan said, according to the Press Association. "What has been presented is simply staggering. Not for the first time, it reveals a bungled decision-making process that has the previous mayor's fingerprints all over it."

Khan declared: "Boris Johnson clearly panicked when faced with legal challenges about West Ham and Newham's joint bid to take ownership of the stadium and then decided to re-run the bid process with the taxpaying taking all the risks and footing almost the whole bill. You simply couldn't make it up. The fact he also failed to properly examine the transformation costs or the entirely inadequate estimates for moving the retractable seats leaves us squarely in the dire financial situation we are in.

"I am determined to put London Stadium towards a stronger financial footing and secure its long-term future, but I'm under no illusion that this is going to take time and some real commitment from all partners to make this work."

The independent review found that the transformation budget estimate of £190 million was exceeded by £133 million, bringing the total cost to £323 million.

As explained by the Guardian's David Conn, Johnson scraped a £25,000, post-London 2012 Summer Olympics solution because it needed public money, but then spent public money to take ownership and convert London Stadium.

West Ham United, who relocated to London Stadium in 2016 and signed a 99-year lease, issued a statement after the independent review was published.

"As the report confirms, the Concession Agreement is a watertight, legally binding contract signed in 2013 in good faith by West Ham United, who remain absolutely committed to its terms for the 99-year duration," the statement reads. "We have delivered everything we committed to within the Concession Agreement, and act as the primary vehicle for London Stadium's legacy, delivering its most watched sporting spectacles, revenue driving events, and thousands of jobs for local people.

"It is not in West Ham United's interests for the stadium to not be performing in line with aspiration and, as we have done ever since moving to Stratford in the summer of 2016, we continue to offer the benefit of our commercial expertise and substantial experience in managing successful stadia. West Ham United will continue to devote our absolute commitment to London Stadium, but our first priority in this sense is always to act in the best interests of our supporters.

"We fully concur that West Ham United has played a significant part in the most successful regeneration programme in the history of the modern Olympics, however the stadium itself craves renewed leadership and direction and we welcome the mayor's decision to step in and deliver this. West Ham United is firmly behind him."