WEMBLEY FARCE

The announcement yesterday that Wembley will not stage the FA Cup final and two scheduled England fixtures increases the likelihood of a negative financial impact on the Football Association. That is because the Australian construction company Multiplex is likely to try to claw back some of the losses it has incurred from the wholly owned FA subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited.

According to a government-commissioned report into the fixed-price £445m construction contract, "if Multiplex builds the stadium for less than this amount, it will keep the difference; if the stadium costs more, Multiplex will bear the cost except in certain circumstances."

The Australian firm believes that those "certain circumstances" have been encountered. These include WNSL-imposed changes to the stadium design, which occurred despite the pledge to "achieve a 'no change' culture for the stadium design".

Another factor Multiplex is expected to consider is the FA's decision to bring forward the FA Cup final by a week from May 20, which forced the company to accelerate its works programme.