Re: Stones UK shows rescheduled?????
Date: February 21, 2006 12:13
Wembley Cup Final bites the dust
By Times Online and Ashling O'Connor and Matt Dickinson of The Times
The FA will admit defeat today on staging this year’s FA Cup Final at Wembley after months of speculation that the new £757 million national stadium would not be ready on time. Brian Barwick, the FA’s chief executive, will break football’s worst-kept secret that the final will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 13. England’s pre-World Cup friendly matches, against Hungary and Jamaica on May 30 and June 3 respectively, will be staged at Old Trafford.
Barwick and Michael Cunnagh, the chief executive of Wembley National Stadium Ltd, visited the site yesterday hoping that Multiplex, the Australian construction company in charge of the project, would be able to provide a guarantee that an agreed March 31 handover date could be met.
After frank discussions with Martin Tidd, Multiplex UK’s managing director, it was clear that the lead builder could offer no firmer prediction than it could on January 30, when it said that the chances of the Cup Final being staged at Wembley this year had fallen to 70 per cent.
Multiplex said today it was "disappointed" with the FA’s decision. In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, the company's secretary, Mark Wilson, said: "Multiplex understands that the English Football Association is to transfer the 2006 FA Cup final to its reserve venue [Millennium Stadium]. Whilst disappointed with the decision, Multiplex continues to work towards targeting completion of Wembley National Stadium at the earliest possible date.
"We understand that the FA has made this decision on the basis that it requires 100 per cent certainty that the venue will be fully functional by May 13 2006, the scheduled date for the the 2006 FA Cup final."
The FA decided to put an end to the constant speculation by issuing a statement before Multiplex’s next update to its shareholders on Thursday. With the FA Cup entering its sixth round, officials at Soho Square decided that certainty was the best form of preparation for one of the most-watched football matches on the calendar. “We couldn’t take any risks,” an FA source said.
The FA’s statement comes as no surprise after a catalogue of setbacks for one of Britain’s most troubled construction projects. Ever since its conception, there has been debate about its necessity, but with consensus established that it would be the best stadium in the world, the path to completion has not run smooth.
As Multiplex’s losses on the project approach £100 million, the company has encountered problems with sub-contractors, particularly the steelworkers, and had time-consuming legal run-ins with Quintain, the property group that owns the surrounding land.
The most recent of these wrangles came last week, when a court issued Multiplex with a two-week notice to vacate offices on Quintain land after the two companies failed to agree new rental terms. A spat over access to the main pedestrian ramp cost Multiplex months.
The FA has declined to put a date on when Wembley could be finished for fear of further embarrassment. There could be more delays through the summer, although Multiplex will have the added incentive to finish the stadium as quickly as possible as it accrues overrun penalties of nearly £1 million a week. The FA Community Shield on August 6 could be the next obvious date in the football calendar.
There are several pop concerts lined up for Wembley in June, starting with Bon Jovi on June 10 followed by the Rolling Stones, Take That and Robbie Williams. Wembley is expected to announce today whether these events will go ahead.