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Bookies cut losses on Wembley
Friday, 31st March 2006, 12:05
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LIFE STYLE EXTRA (UK) - Bookies have cut their losses over the Wembley
Stadium debacle - and have opened a book on the Olympic Stadium not
being ready instead.
Canny punters, including many builders working on the site, placed
hefty bets that Wembley would not be ready on time. Some even staked
thousands of pounds on it not being finished until next year.
FA bigwigs only finally admitted defeat today over the farcical
£757million project and confirmed that the new stadium will not be
ready until 2007.
The latest delay means that England's friendly international in August
and two Euro 2008 qualifiers scheduled for in September and October
will have to be moved elsewhere.
The Community Shield on 13 August will also have to be staged at
another venue - possibly Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. And a further
victim will be Rugby league's Challenge Cup final on 26 August, yet
another big game looking for a new home - with Twickenham the most
likely venue.
Now bookmakers William Hill say they have given up on trying to keep
up with the continual delays for Wembley Stadium and are expecting the
Olympic Stadium to end up in the same mess.
Graham Sharpe, William Hill's spokesman said: "I'm not sure if the
original Wembley Stadium was late in 1923 but over the last few years
most big building projects including the Millenium Dome have been
late.
"We just cannot keep up with the delays over Wembley or what is going
on there. We banked on it opening on the scheduled date and we had
odds of 7-2 against and we paid out on that. Since then we have taken
bets on all the concerts being played there but now we are giving up.
"Those who cashed in on the first delay may now try to play up their
winnings by betting on a further setback because we will keep a book
open at 7/2 that Wembley will fail to stage the 2007 FA Cup Final.
"We are offering 1/6 that the new Wembley Stadium does stage the
match. As a result of the ongoing delays with the project, and due to
other problems with major projects such as the Millennium Dome, we
have cut the odds that the official Olympic Stadium for London 2012
will fail to be ready in time to stage the event, from 12/1 to 10/1.
"It seems unthinkable that the Olympic Stadium would not be ready in
time, but Athens only just made it and Wembley's experience should
concentrate minds to ensure that the country is not subjected to its
most embarrassing public delay ever."
Sharpe added: "We have also cut the odds from 100/1 to 50/1 that
Wembley Stadium will not be finished by the time the London Olympics
get underway in 2012."
Footy fans are not the only ones left disappointed as thousands of
music fans who have paid to see The Rolling Stones, Take That, and
Robbie Williams will now miss out.
In an official statement today a spokesperson for the FA said:
"Further to recent meetings with Multiplex and Wembley National
Stadium Limited (WNSL), it is clear that the construction of Wembley
Stadium is significantly behind schedule.
"Multiplex has now supplied WNSL and The FA with an updated schedule.
From the new schedule it is apparent that Wembley will not be
available to host our autumn fixtures.
"We do not want to set deadlines on when the stadium will open and be
faced with the constant speculation surrounding this as we approach
individual fixtures. Therefore, we believe it is important that we are
transparent with our plans.
"The FA is taking the prudent measure of booking new venues for all of
our fixtures until the year end.
"The fixtures listed below will be played at alternative venues which
will be publicly announced by The FA once they are confirmed; 13th
August FA Community Shield, 16th August England friendly
international, 2nd September England v Andorra – Euro 2008 Qualifier,
7th October England v Macedonia - Euro 2008 Qualifier
"The FA and WNSL continue to meet with banks and other key
stakeholders to discuss the current status of the project and ensure
we have the appropriate plans in place moving forward."
MXG
multiplex group
