The Football Association was expected to announce today that the new Wembley Stadium will not open until 2007.
The FA had meetings with builders Multiplex and Wembley National Stadium this week and took the view that the stadium was still seriously behind schedule.
As a result, they will pull the plug on two England Euro 2008 qualifiers, a friendly international and the Community Shield.
Concerts by Bon Jovi and Take That scheduled for the north-west London venue in June have already been moved to the Milton Keynes Bowl, while other summer gigs by the Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams were also likely to be postponed.
Wembley builders Multiplex said early today that it hoped most of the remaining work on the 90,000 seat venue would be completed by the end of the June.
However, the firm said it was entitled to a further extension under the terms of its contract in order to put the finishing touches to the project.
This would extend the completion date until at least the end of September – a year later than the original deadline.
In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, Multiplex said: “Substantial completion by the end of June will have certain works and certain activities such as commissioning and cleaning still to be completed after this date.
“Multiplex has formally advised its client that Multiplex is entitled to substantial and legitimate extensions of time under the terms of its construction contract which will extend the contract completion date until at least September 2006.”
Three deadlines with the Australian builders have already been missed, and when the handover does eventually place the FA will need at least three months to test and fit out the stadium.
Construction has been beset by problems, including a partial roof collapse and issues with sewage pipes.
The original £325m cost estimate for the project has more than doubled to £757m.
The FA have already announced that the FA Cup final on May 13, the match planned to be the first at the new stadium, will instead be played at Cardiff.
The Tories said the Government must learn from the Wembley setbacks to avoid a similar fate with the 2012 Olympics.
Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, Hugo Swire MP said: “We are about to embark on a massive building project for the 2012 Olympics and this setback raises serious concerns about our ability to deliver on time and to budget.
“If we are to learn from these mistakes in time for the Olympics, we must have answers from the Department of Culture Media about why this has gone so very wrong.
“The reality is that ready or not we can’t postpone the Olympics.”
Multiplex, which has already admitted to losing £106m on the project, says it is not to blame for the latest missed deadline and was not liable to pay any more compensation.
Company secretary Mark Wilson said “no further adjustments to the project’s financial position are anticipated”.
References: EGi News 31/03/06
