Barry Hearn exclusive: Why I believe it’s not game over yet for the Olympic Stadium

Barry Hearn smiles when I suggest his fight to get Leyton Orient to share the Olympic Stadium with West Ham is grandstanding and all that he wants is compensation.
“I can understand the mentality of people who think that,” he says, “because my nature is fairly loud and brash, they think Barry’s after some compensation. Actually, compensation is a waste of time. If you’re going down the slippery slope, all you’re doing is delaying the demise of a League One club. That is inevitable if a Premier League club move in only 750 yards from their doorstep. We understand you’ve got to have a major team in there. But what about us? Are we just to be forgotten?”