Tottenham could share Olympic Stadium with West Ham while new home is built

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Tottenham could share Olympic Stadium with West Ham in 2017-18
Chelsea insiders expect the club to settle with Eva Carneiro before court
Pele spoke to guests at the Halcyon Gallery in London on Thursday
Kevin Pietersen was on charm offensive at Sport Industry Breakfast Club

Published: 16:30 EST, 24 September 2015 | Updated: 04:53 EST, 25 September 2015

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Olympic Stadium owners are still open to Tottenham sharing the Stratford venue in 2017-18 with long-term tenants West Ham, with Spurs needing to move out of White Hart Lane while their new ground is built.

Spurs are understood to have held provisional talks with the London Legacy Development Company 18 months ago about the possibility of a one-year tenancy, despite the fuss they caused threatening judicial reviews when West Ham were made the preferred bidder to rent a stadium that Tottenham wanted to knock down and rebuild.

But a season at the Olympic Stadium looks the most sensible option for Tottenham now that the FA are set to prefer Chelsea’s three-year relocation to Wembley from 2017-18.

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The Olympic Stadium, which is playing host to the Rugby World Cup, could house both West Ham and Spurs

West Ham move into the stadium next season, but Spurs could ground share while their new stadium is built

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino could take charge of his side at the Olympic Stadium for a season

And Spurs still have a strong case — with tax-payers’ money funding the Olympic Stadium build — to be given the same discounted rental agreement West Ham enjoy.

Any of the 100,000-plus fans who attended the two Rugby World Cup games at the stadium on Wednesday and Thursday night can vouch for the cavernous Olympic site, with its huge footprint easily able to accommodate two Premier League clubs on a short-term basis.

West Ham are said to have no veto as the primary tenants but do have fixture-list priority, which Spurs could work around. The Premier League board would also have to sanction any potential groundshare.

A Spurs spokesman said: ‘We are looking at all options but Wembley is our preference.’

Tottenham are looking for a stadium to house them in 2017-18 while their new stadium is being built

West Ham's players, pictured in training on Thursday, are gearing up to move into the Olympic Stadium

Chelsea insiders expect the club to settle with estranged doctor Eva Carneiro before any wrongful dismissal case reaches court. The club are so keen that no dirty linen is washed in public that even middle-management commercial staff have confidentiality clauses in their pay-offs.

Pele, the world’s greatest ever footballer, certainly gave guests at London’s Halcyon Gallery value for their lunch ticket on Thursday.

The 75-year-old Brazil icon, remarkably becoming more lucid the older he gets, said about being introduced to pop artist Andy Warhol in New York: ‘I was thinking what position he played.’ And about his advertising of Viagra, he stressed: ‘I just did the commercials, I never used it.’

The Halcyon, where an exhibition is being held in Pele’s honour, are secretive about how much any of the eight Warhol silk-screen ink-on-canvas portraits of the icon fetch on the open market but the last one to change hands is understood to have cost more than £650,000.

Chelsea insiders expect the club to settle with estranged doctor Eva Carneiro (centre) before it reaches court

Pele gave guests at the Halcyon Gallery value for their money on Thursday when he spoke to them over lunch

Acrimony at the Solheim Cup between Europe and the USA — after Norway’s Suzann Pettersen claimed a hole when Alison Lee picked up her ball, believing the putt had been conceded — was forgotten during a far more friendly golf encounter between injured servicemen from the US and GB.

The Brits, featuring seven limbless veterans, triumphed 9½-8½ in the Simpson Cup at Royal St George’s. ‘The spirit of endeavour and camaraderie shone through during the event,’ said a spokesman.

KP on peace mission

England exile Kevin Pietersen started the next chapter of his mercurial life by mounting a charm offensive at Sport Industry Breakfast Club. He even admitted arch foe Andrew Strauss, England’s cricket director, had made the right decision in leaving him out of the Ashes.

There was acrimony at the Solheim Cup when Suzann Pettersen (right) did not concede a hole against USA

Kevin Pietersen was on the charm offensive on Thursday when he spoke at the Sport Industry Breakfast Club

Pietersen said: ‘England have won the Ashes and I’m so positive about that, I’m buzzing. I don’t look back to a meeting in May (when Strauss told KP he wouldn’t be picked on the day he made 355 for Surrey). Absolutely, it seems to be the right decision at the moment and good luck to him. Getting past players back in the dressing room is brilliant.’

Asked if he thought the England door was now closed, Pietersen said: ‘If it is, it is. I’m not sitting here worrying what has happened. I’m living my life. I loved seeing England win. I have some real close buddies in the side and seeing the guys play so well makes me so happy. The ECB do a very good job. I’m a positive person looking forward, not back.’

The ECB had a legal representative in the room, but KP is clearly not looking for any more fights.