Surprisingly the time for reconfiguration of the Olympic Stadium has been extended from mid-2014 to mid-2015, “London Evening Standard” reports. As if there wasn’t enough controversy around the venue already.

The 80,000-seater hasn’t had a capacity event yet after having been under construction for long 4 years and already we are informed that for further 3 years it won’t be operational.

London Legacy Development Corporation announced on Friday that reconfiguration of the venue will take up to 3 years instead of 2 planned before. Currently most important issues are extending the roof to cover all seats and construction of retractable lower tier seats that would be able to bring fans closer to the action on football matchdays.

Initially it was envisaged the ground will be left with 25,000 seats after the Games and become England’s top athletics stadium. However for the ground to be sustainable a club tenant was chosen as the best option. Therefore capacity should be left at 60,000 with the features above making it more football-friendly.

The stadium is yet to be finished with external wrap being installed currently. Photo: EG Focus (cc: by)

Bids to take over the ground were already submitted twice, but both procedures were cancelled. Currently third approach to the bidding procedure is ongoing with 4 confirmed bidders so far: West Ham United, Leyton Orient (preferring a ground-share with WHU), University of East London and a group aiming to host F1 races in the Olympic Park.

Bidding deadline is set at July 27^th and final decision on future tenant(s) is expected in September. Whoever will be chosen, LLDC will not transfer the redeveloped ground until mid-2015, unless the tenant chooses to use it when not fully operational.