West Ham have London Stadium priority if coronavirus delays Premier League season into summer

West Ham say they will be able play the remainder of their home games at the London Stadium if the season runs into the summer, despite other events due to take place there.

Two baseball games, a music concert and an athletics meeting are due to be held in June and July, which raised the prospect of the Hammers not being able to complete some of their home fixtures, with uncertainty over when the Premier League season might end due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But West Ham believe they have precedence over use of the stadium under a clause in their contract with landlords E20 called the overriding priority ­principle.

That effectively states that West Ham’s competitive matches are the No1 priority at the venue over the likes of Major League Baseball - which is coming to the venue in June - along with a concert and athletics’ Anniversary Games in July.

Quite how the situation will play out remains to be seen, with the venue relying heavily on its lucrative summer events to help keep losses down.

In Pictures | The Premier League games still be played

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The transition between football and hosting other events takes about two weeks, with seats required to be moved back, meaning the other events could yet be cancelled to make way for the Premier League.

The London Legacy Development Corporation, however, said it was too early to say what might happen to events at the London Stadium in the coming months.

In a statement, the LLD said: “These are unprecedented circumstances and we will work closely with the club over the coming weeks to manage the issues.

"The situation is very fluid so, like many other clubs with summer events programmes, it is too soon to give exact details of future arrangements.”

All Premier League fixtures are off until April 3 at the earliest.

West Ham said in a statement: "As the primary concessionaire at London Stadium, our agreement with our landlords E20 has a clause known as the Overriding Priority Principle.

"The Overriding Priority Principle is an agreement that all of West Ham United’s competitive matches shall take precedence over any other activity, event or use of the Stadium on the dates that are notified to us by a governing body - in this case the Premier League. If the football season continues beyond May, our fixtures will go ahead as planned in the Stadium.

"E20 has confirmed it has an obligation not to schedule events during the football season which might impair the pitch. The football season is defined as ending on the date falling one day after the final competitive match we play in an event year. As yet, we have no confirmation of when postponed matches will be played but if and when they are rescheduled, they will be played at London Stadium, which is the home ground of West Ham United."

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