East Brisbane community leaders are quietly confident the $2.7bn plan to demolish and rebuild Brisbane’s Gabba stadium will not go ahead, after Olympics bosses withdrew support for the plan.

On Tuesday, a delegation including International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates told the Queensland government’s review of games infrastructure that the rebuild had become a “distraction” and risked turning people against the Games. They recommended using other venues instead, including Suncorp Stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Nathan for athletics.

In one of his first acts in the role, the premier, Steven Miles, paused the Gabba rebuild plan and in January ordered a review by former Brisbane mayor Graham Quirk.

This is a test

“To have [Coates] come out this morning and actually support all of the recommendations we’ve been putting to government for the last three years has been quite extraordinary,” she said.

The president of the East Brisbane state school parents and citizens association, Austin Gibbs, said they were quietly hopeful of a reprieve, but would await the final review.