February 23, 2006

Australian construction firm fails to deliver football stadium on time

Cup officials forced to move final game

Wembley won't stage this year’s FA Cup final and the owners still don’t know when the stadium will open.

The Football Association confirmed it has been forced to move the May 13 final to Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium because Australian construction company Multiplex can’t guarantee Wembley will be ready.

The Football League has moved the three end-of-season playoffs to Cardiff, and England’s last two World Cup warmups have been switched to Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

“I am as disappointed by this news as the fans who have been looking forward to coming to the first events at Wembley Stadium and now have to wait a little longer,” said Michael Cunnah, chief executive of Wembley National Stadium Limited, which is waiting to take over ownership from Multiplex.

“It is still too early to say exactly when the stadium will open. We will announce a definitive date once we have more certainty on when the stadium will be fully ready.”

With cranes hanging over the site and the walkway from the stadium to the local station half completed, the March 31 deadline for handing over the $1.32 billion US stadium almost certainly won’t be met.

Since Wembley is unlikely to be ready to stage concerts by bands, including one by U.S. rock group Bon Jovi, WNSL is set to lose revenue and could fine Multiplex $1.74 million a week until the handover.

The decision means Cardiff’s 75,000-capacity Millennium Stadium, which stages Sunday’s League Cup final between Manchester United and Wigan, will have the FA Cup final for the sixth straight season.

“It is clear that while they have over 3,500 people working hard on the site, Multiplex and indeed WNSL are unable to give us 100 per cent certainty that the stadium will be completed in time for the FA Cup final,” said FA chief executive Brian Barwick, who toured the site Monday.

“Due to the magnitude of the cup final, we are not prepared to compromise or take any risks on the stadium being unable to stage such a significant event.”

The Football League said the promotion playoffs, which were due to be at Wembley in the last 10 days of May, have been moved to the Millennium Stadium.

The FA switched England’s games against Hungary on May 30 and Jamaica on June 3 to Old Trafford.

Construction work started in September 2002 after a series of delays and wrangling over whether to include an athletics track.

Wembley was part of England’s bid to stage the 2006 World Cup, but financial backers withdrew when Germany was awarded the event.

Wembley’s last match was England’s 1-0 loss to Germany in October 2000. Wembley’s owners hope its next will be next season’s traditional opener, the Community Shield between the Premier League champion and the FA Cup holder.

It’s the second time recently London has had problems with stadium construction.

It had wanted to host the 2005 world athletics championships but they went to Helsinki, Finland, because funding couldn’t be found to build a new venue.

Associated Press

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