Wembley to host 2007 FA Cup final: report

The long-delayed Wembley stadium in London will be completed in a few months, and will host the 2007 FA Cup, The Observer reported on Sunday.

The English Football Association will pay Australian construction company Multiplex 70 million pounds (130 million dollars, 104 million euros) on top of the originally agreed 458 million-pound redevelopment price-tag.

That would push the total cost to the FA to 827 million pounds, including the cost of acquiring the land and other associated costs, the newspaper said.

Multiplex would then pay the FA 35 million pounds back as late penalty compensation -- their total loss on the stadium would be 148 million pounds, bringing the total cost of Wembley to 975 million pounds.

The agreements will allow Wembley to host the FA Cup final on May 19, 2007, however, the newspaper reported.

The redeveloped 90,000-seater stadium in north London was originally scheduled to open early this year but the date has been pushed back by a series of cost overruns and disputes between Multiplex and its subcontractors.

Multiplex said in August the stadium was largely completed, aside from the installation of some seats meant to have been put in by a contractor who became insolvent.

The construction company also said at the time that the stadium would not be ready for the 2007 FA Cup final, and said major events were off the cards until June 2007, a timetable the FA rejected.

Source: Xinhua