A report by accounting consultants KPMG recommended that a temporary, 6,000-seat venue in the North Greenwich area is relocated, but the Olympic Board has delayed a decision on that and the shooting site at Woolwich.

 

If badminton is moved it is expected to be relocated to Wembley Arena, which hosted the All England Championships between 1957 and 1993.

 

Paul Deighton, the chief executive of London 2012, said: "The draft conclusion of the KPMG report is that there ought to be an economic opportunity to shift, so over the next few months we will look at ways to shift that."

 

The change could result in savings worth up to £40 million.

 

But Deighton said it "did not make economic sense" to move a 12,000-seat, £60 million temporary arena for basketball in the main Olympic Park to a permanent site elsewhere.

 

Following the meeting of the Olympic Board, whose members include London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe, London Mayor Boris Johnson, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell and British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan, they said that there are no significant savings to be made from moving the basketball venue off the Park to an existing permanent facility.

 

Basketball had complained bitterly when it was first reported that the preliminary matches of the tournament may be moved to Wembley Arena, including writing a letter of protest to London 2012 and senior Government officials.

 

The semi-finals and finals of the tournament are due to be held in the O2, formerly the Millennium Dome which, for marketing reasons, will be known as North Greenwich Arena during the Olympics.

 

Equestrian events will remain at Greenwich Park because none of the alternatives were close enough to accommodate the modern pentathlon show jumping event, which needs to be located close to the Olympic Park to allow the completion of all five events within one day, it was concluded.

 

Alternative venues would also require accommodation for competitors as they would not be within guidelines for travel time from the Olympic Village.

 

The statement from London 2012 said: "Given these considerations, an alternative location for equestrian and modern pentathlon would not result in lower costs than Greenwich Park."