fa awake to multiplex bag of tricks. FA confident of legal...

fa awake to multiplex bag of tricks. FA confident of legal standing on Wembley

Denis Campbell
Sunday April 2, 2006
The Observer


Football Association chiefs are unworried by threats of legal action by Multiplex, the company who are building the new Wembley and will pursue the firm for millions of pounds in penalty payments in court if necessary.
They view the Australian company's claims that they will go to court themselves as a tactic designed to distract attention from the delays that have beset the construction and an attempt to force the FA to drop their demands.

Senior figures at the FA and Wembley National Stadium Limited, the subsidiary that runs the venue, say Multiplex's argument that 'design changes' have caused the mounting delays are baseless.

Multiplex want the FA to reduce or waive their claim to millions of pounds in financial sanctions for the failure to meet two deadlines for handing over the £757million stadium. The opening was first put back from the end of this season to August. On Friday it was confirmed that the ground will not be ready until early 2007.

The FA are seeking new venues for the three England games that should have been played at Wembley this autumn. The 16 August friendly, against as yet unnamed opponents, might be played at Stamford Bridge, while at least one, if not both, of the Euro 2008 home qualifiers, against Andorra on 2 September and Macedonia on 7 October, will be staged at Old Trafford.

'The fact that Wembley won't open now until next year means the FA will want to play in the largest available venue, in order to maximise its financial return, although the quality of the opposition is a factor,' said one project insider.

Arsenal's exploits in the Champions League mean they are facing fixture congestion between now and the end of the season and might have to play three league games in the final week.

If Arsene Wenger's team capitalise on their 2-0 lead against Juventus in their quarter-final second leg on Wednesday, their game at Portsmouth, postponed last week due to a waterlogged pitch, will be played on 12 April. Their Easter Monday match at Manchester City will also be moved - to 4 May - to allow them to prepare for a Champions League semifinal first leg at home 48 hours later, against Inter or Villarreal.

Success against Juve in Turin would see them having to face Sunderland on 1 May, Man City three nights later, then Wigan on the last day of the season, 7 May, in the final game at Highbury.

Wenger's selections against Pompey on 12 April and West Brom three days later will be closely scrutinised, given the matches' potential impact on the battle to avoid relegation.

Craig Levein, who was sacked recently as Leicester's manager, would consider returning to Hearts, where he made his name as a manager. Marco Tardelli, the former Inter coach who played in Italy's 1982 World Cup-winning side, has also been linked with the job of replacing Graham Rix, who was dismissed last month by the club's controversial Lithuanian owner, Vladimir Romanov.