Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates has "weighed into the great stadium debate by urging the NSW government to turn ANZ Stadium into a truly rectangular venue to help cement the legacy of the Sydney Games," according to Brent Read of THE AUSTRALIAN. Coates, whose role in securing the 2000 Olympics for Sydney led to the construction of ANZ Stadium, has "watched with interest as Sydney's two major venues have wrestled over the lion’s share" of the state government's A$1.6B ($1.2B) funding for Sydney stadiums. His fear is that the government "will fail to maximise the legacy of the Sydney Olympics" by ignoring calls for ANZ Stadium to be turned into a rectangular venue. Coates said, "Our view as the ones who brought the Games here is that the best legacy use would be a reconfiguration to rectangular. I don't see why you wouldn't have that at 75,000 (capacity) and why you need to have a 55-65,000 stadium in addition." Coates's comments come ahead of a meeting between National Rugby League clubs "aimed at formalising their stance on the stadiums debate." Several of those clubs were "involved in furious negotiations with the NRL as the game's governing body looked to secure enough games to meet the state government's 65-game quota" by Thursday's deadline. With no Olympics or Commonwealth Games on Sydney’s horizon, Coates fears ANZ Stadium "would be under-utilised if the government ignored calls for it to be turned into a rectangular venue" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/1).
