West Ham United have been named preferred bidders to become the first tenants of the Olympic Stadium by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC).
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The deal has not been finalised as there are still several details to iron out and no contracts have been signed as yet, and while West Ham might be the preferred choice, no other bidders have been excluded yet.
These details include the final specifications for adaptations to the stadium and the funding for the adaptations that still needs to be agreed upon.
In order to become preferred bidders, the Hammers had to agree to construct retractable seats over the running track.
London mayor Boris Johnson made the announcement after discussions with the LLDC and said that there were other options should a deal with the east London club not arise.
"Four good bids came in but the top bid was West Ham. There are a lot of negotiations still to go on between the LDDC and West Ham about the terms of the deal," he told SkySports.
Some of the other bidders include a football business college and a consortium hoping to stage Formula 1 races at the venue.
West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan released a joint statement which read:
"We believe that this move, together with the realisation of other key goals that the board set out to achieve from the outset, will play a huge part in helping to realise our ambitious vision to move the club to the next level on behalf of our fantastic and deserving fans.
"Our absolute priority is to take them with us, as well as enticing those supporters that have previously eluded us due to barriers such as affordability and accessibility."
It is unlikely that the stadium will see any football before 2015 at the earliest and West Ham may face legal challenges from Leyton Orient, who want to share the arena.
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