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Wembley Stadium won't host FA Cup final, officials admit

The FA Cup final will not be held at the new Wembley Stadium, the Football Association announced yesterday as the worst kept secret in football -- that the venue would not be ready on time -- was finally confirmed.

Instead, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium will again host English football's showcase event, as work continues to complete reconstruction of the 90,000-seater venue in north London.

"I can confirm today that this season's FA Cup Final will be held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 13," FA chief executive Brian Barwick said in a statement.

"I can also confirm that England's pre-World Cup games against Hungary [on May 30] and Jamaica [June 3] -- previously scheduled for Wembley -- will now be held at Old Trafford."

News had already broken in Australia, where Wembley constructors Multiplex are based, that the Cup final would be switched to Cardiff and Barwick added: "The FA has taken these decisions after meeting with Wembley chief executive Michael Cunnah and Multiplex's Managing Director Martin Tidd, following a site visit to the stadium yesterday [Monday]. The FA took the prudent step of booking the Millennium Stadium as a backup option to Wembley last August, therefore allowing us to extend this decision as long as possible and giving Multiplex every chance of making the May 13 date."

"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 percent certainty that the stadium will be completed in time for the FA Cup Final. 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," he said.

"We felt it was important to clarify the situation for everyone connected with the game in this country -- especially for those teams and their supporters still in The FA Cup. Multiplex and WNSL [Wembley National Stadium] remain committed to delivering the stadium at the earliest possible date. I would like to emphasize that WNSL have a fixed-price contract with constructors Multiplex. The total project cost remains ?757 million [US$1.32 billion]," Barwick said.

"We should remember that when finished, Wembley will be world class and the stadium -- with its magnificent arch -- will host many Cup Finals and England internationals for decades to come," he said.

The FA's decision, which sees the Cup final staying at the Millennium for the fifth successive year, means the Football League play-off finals will also take place in Cardiff. The Millennium Stadium has suffered with pitch problems and groundstaff now have just 24 hours between the May 20 European Cup rugby union final and the May 21 Championship football play-off match to get the surface up to scratch.

Wembley has been dogged by construction delays and cost overruns, prompting Multiplex to warn in January that there was only a 70 percent chance of it being ready for the final in May.

"We understand that the FA has made this decision on the basis that it requires 100 percent certainty that the venue will be fully functional by 13 May 2006, the scheduled date for the 2006 FA Cup Final," Multiplex said in a two-paragraph statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

The firm said it was disappointed with the FA's decision but "continues to work towards targeting completion of Wembley National Stadium at the earliest possible date."

That handover date now stands at March 31, but has already been moved back several times because of problems with the redevelopment of the world-famous football ground.
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