An announcement on the future of Wembley Stadium was put back by 48 hours today fuelling speculation that the troubled project has hit fresh problems.
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Wembley: Still the debacle continues to run and run
(BenRadford/Allsport) |
The Football Association was due to hold a press conference this afternoon confirming that after months of uncertainty Wembley had been chosen as the site for a new national stadium.
But in keeping with the nature of this shambolic scheme the FA decided to put the announcement on hold at the last minute.
Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, had planned to simultaneously confirm the news today in a written answer to a parliamentary question.
That has also been put back and with Parliament due to rise for the Christmas break on Wednesday it is unlikely she will have time to make the full details of the decision available to MPs before the recess.
The sudden change of plans could be linked to last-minute problems over the repayment of £20 million of a £120m National Lottery grant by the FA following the decision two years ago to remove athletics from the national stadium's designs.
The FA, which owns Wembley National Stadium Ltd, has agreed to give back the money to Sport England, the quango which distributes lottery money to sports projects.
But Sport England are prepared to let the FA keep the money if it agrees to keep to the original design which allowed for the installation of a temporary track and field platform.
That could embarrass ministers who ruled out any chance of the sport being included in the plans for Wembley.
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