Robertson told reporters on the sidelines of a British
Olympic Association (BOA) presentation that he wanted to bid for an event that
could bring a 100 million-pound ($160,300,000)boost to the capital's economy.
However, he said it depended on the High Court conclusively
ruling out by September the clubs' hope of a judicial review into West Ham
United's move to the 2012 Olympic Stadium after next year's Games.
London has expressed interest in hosting the 2017
championships at the Olympic Stadium, with the International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF) due to announce the list of official candidates on Sept. 1.
Premier League Tottenham, who had wanted to remove the
athletics track and build a new stadium on the Olympic site, has applied to the
London High Court to renew an application for judicial review but no date has
yet been set for a hearing.
West Ham, who plan to move in for the 2014-15 season, would
keep the athletics track.
"If the High Court isn't settled then we do not have a
locked-down, secure venue and that will make it very difficult to bid (for
2017)," said Robertson.
Britain withdrew as hosts of the 2005 world athletics
championships because the proposed venue was deemed too expensive and ditched a
bid for the 2015 event because of the legal wrangle over the Olympic Stadium's
future tenant.
"If we do not have a locked-down, secure venue we will
not bid," added the minister.
"We are caught between the court timetables and the
IAAF timetable...the key thing is whether we can get Tottenham Hotspur and
Leyton Orient's appeal through the High Court and clearly I would say dismissed
before the first of September." Asked what incentive Tottenham might have
to drop their appeal, given that the North London club did not want an
athletics track in the first place, Robertson replied: "I would hope that
Tottenham would actually see the greater good to London.
"It may be a fond hope, but the initial economic
planning tells us that there will be a 100 million pound boost to the London
economy from hosting a world athletics championship," he added.
"I hope that anybody involved in sport would see the
greater good of that and would recognise that whatever their feelings might be
about the stadium process, and I understand that disappointment, they would see
the greater good.
The High Court rejected bids by both Spurs and Orient in
June for a judicial review but Tottenham applied to continue the battle.
Robertson said he was otherwise committed to securing the
championships as a key legacy of the Olympics.
"Let's be absolutely clear about this, I want to bid
for the 2017 world athletics championships," said Robertson.
"I
therefore find it rather frustrating that having been through the process we
are now being dragged through the High Court, clearly won the first round and have
now got the appeal to come," he added. "If we win that, we will
bid."
