|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Monument to failure Twin Towers left standing as new Wembley collapses
LONDON (Reuters) -- A public outcry greeted the announcement three years ago that Wembley's Twin Towers would be demolished as part of the stadium's redevelopment. But the decaying white towers are still standing and it is the dream of a new 90,000-seat "national stadium" in north London that appears to have been reduced to rubble. Wembley is probably the most famous soccer ground in the world -- it was home of the English FA Cup final for 77 years, venue of the 1948 Olympics and the setting for England's greatest soccer success, the 1966 World Cup victory. But instead of epitomizing the romance of sport, the Twin Towers now stand as the symbols of a project which has reached a humiliating standstill and of Britain's bad habit of making grandiose sporting promises -- and then failing to fulfil them. As Labour's former sports minister Tony Banks said in March: "The fiasco of the new Wembley has damaged the country and the government. It has reflected badly on us." On Tuesday the British government said it would not provide the 100 to 150 million pounds (US$143 to 215 million) to the English Football Association to fill a funding gap after financial institutions shied away from the project. Three years ago, when England were still campaigning to host the 2006 World Cup finals, it was confidently predicted the new stadium would be ready by 2005. England no longer have to worry about the 2006 deadline as Germany won the right to stage the finals -- but hopes that Wembley would re-open by 2005 have evaporated. Alarm bells Alarm bells have been ringing for months. Four weeks ago, Sir Rodney Walker, chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited, admitted there was little chance of finding potential investors and that bankers Chase Manhattan were having problems raising the 475 million pounds needed to continue with the project. In all, the costs of the project have risen from 240 million pounds to 660 million pounds -- with the price tag estimated to rise by two million pounds every month that Wembley stands empty. Demolishing the current stadium, including the Twin Towers, and building a new one should take just under four years. If work started this week, the stadium would be ready by the spring of 2005 -- barring any problems. But there have been problems all the way, with deadlines missed at every turn. Demolition work was meant to begin by the end of March this year -- after being delayed from October -- or else 120 million pounds of National Lottery money would have to be returned. There are other contractual obligations and deadlines that have to be met which involve not only the building of the new stadium but also the land around the stadium, located in an unprepossessing area of London. Root cause The root cause of the problems is that there were too many people involved in planning the new Wembley from the beginning -- the government, the Football Association and the local council to name but a handful. What also did not help was a very public disagreement between Kate Hoey, Banks' successor as sports minister, and Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, who was chairman of the project. Hoey contradicted her boss -- Culture Secretary Chris Smith -- who six months earlier said there should be no athletics track at the new stadium. When Hoey became Sports Minister she said there should be one. That added to yet more delays and it was an idea which Bates was vehemently opposed to. Bates publicly blaming Hoey for this fiasco, comments that eventually led to him resigning. However, an old idea is once again gaining currency -- why build a new national stadium at Wembley at all? Wembley has always been an awkward venue to reach by underground train, railway or road and those living in the north, particularly around Manchester, say London is no longer by right the center of English soccer. Even FA chief executive Adam Crozier hinted Tuesday that a new stadium did not have to be built in the capital. He said the FA was happy with the current situation where England is playing its internationals at different grounds around the country. This year's Cup finals are being played at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff where the atmosphere -- if not the pitch -- is superb. When asked if a national stadium had to be at Wembley, Crozier replied the final decision now rested with Home Secretary (interior minister) Jack Straw who is chairman of a group now plotting the way forward for Wembley. On all fronts Straw is likely to be far more hard-headed than FA officials. The romance associated with the name "Wembley" might soon be firmly consigned to the past.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
