So they built one for the games, then ripped up the athletics track and converted the stadium for Manchester City football club, all at public expense: £78m national lottery money, £49m from the city council.
The rations themselves, administered by the military, are distributed at a converted soccer stadium not far from Bannu's central bazaar.
That sports apathy is a big reason why this converted Olympic stadium that houses one of the most successful franchises of the past 30 years can only fill 49% of its seats.
Suppose we turn the tables: imagine some Hindu guru from India entering the U.S. under the "guise" of visiting rather than obtaining a religious worker (R-1 visa) and then boasting about having successfully converted a stadium full of desperately poor Americans with promises of being saved both materially and spiritually?
They have shown they can win on the road, they have made the playoffs under a rookie head coach and they are attempting to convert Giants Stadium into Jets Stadium, if only on game days.
"Major League Baseball has converted our stadiums into cathedrals," he said.
The increase, partly accounted for by increased costs involved in moving the retractable seats installed to convert the stadium into "football mode", takes the overall cost of the stadium to £752m.
The £40m loan from Newham, raised from the markets rather than the council's capital budget, is being put towards the £95m cost of converting the stadium into a permanent multi-use arena, including the provision of a full roof, catering, toilets and retractable seating.
"Our presence underwrites the multi-use legacy of the stadium and our contribution alone will pay back more than the cost of building and converting the stadium over the course of our tenancy".
But it will have to find extra funds to convert the stadium for post-Games use.
