West Ham, which was relegated from the Barclays Premier League last season, has confirmed that Dionne Knight, the OPLC’s director of corporate services, carried out paid consultancy work on behalf of the club during the tender process. However, West Ham insisted that the payments to Knight were transparent and that the club believed she had authorisation from the OPLC to carry out the work.

However, the OPLC, which suspended Knight on Friday, has said she was working for West Ham without its knowledge. Although the OPLC has insisted there was no impact on the tender process, both the OPLC and West Ham are carrying out internal reviews. A joint-bid from West Ham and Newham Council was successful in the bidding process for the Olympic Stadium, with Tottenham Hotspur missing out.

“We are certain of the robustness of our successful bid for the Olympic Stadium,” read a statement from West Ham on Sunday. “The newspaper's statement that Tottenham Hotspur employed the investigators who obtained private information illegally is one we are treating with the utmost seriousness and no doubt data protection and prosecution agencies may also do so.”

The statement added: “The suggestion of 'secret cash' in the Sunday Times article is absolutely and categorically denied. As such, legal action is being taken against the Sunday Times, as well as Tottenham Hotspur.”