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Soccer over athletics Official says rebuilt Wembley Stadium won't feature track
Posted: Wednesday December 22, 1999 01:39 PM
LONDON (AP) -- Soccer has won the battle for the new 475-million-pound (US$760 million) Wembley Stadium. Chris Smith, the secretary of state responsible for sports, detailed plans Wednesday for Wembley to be rebuilt as a soccer stadium and the centerpiece of England's bid for the 2006 World Cup. The decision, which scraps plans to add an athletics track, means Wembley will no longer be the focal point of bids for the 2005 World Athletics Championships and the 2012 Olympic Games. Controversy erupted last month when Britain's sports minister Kate Hoey criticized the new Wembley layout, saying the 90,000-seat stadium was unsuitable for track and field and had been railroaded through by soccer interests. Smith said 20 million pounds (US$32 million) of the 120 million pounds (US$192 million) originally slated for the project from Britain's national lottery would be returned by the Wembley National Stadium Limited, the English Football Association subsidiary set up to oversee the redevelopment. The returned money is likely go into redevelopment work at south London's Twickenham stadium -- home of English rugby -- to adapt the facility to athletics. The money might also be used to help rebuild the small, rundown Crystal Palace facility in south London, which has been the city's traditional home for track and field events. Smith ruled out spending an additional 20-45 million pounds (US$32-72 million) to add a temporary running track to Wembley, arguing it was unworkable. "There is general agreement that, subject to the satisfactory conclusion of further detailed discussions among the interested parties, Wembley should be the focus of a world-class stadium for football and rugby league and that alternative arrangements should be made for athletics," Smith said. However, the opposition Conservative Party spokesman for sports, Peter Ainsworth, called the change of plans a "fiasco" and said it had eliminated chances of "bidding for the Olympic Games." Organizers of England 2006 World Cup bid, one of the three favorites along with Germany and South Africa, were predictably pleased. Conversely, track and field officials did little to hide their disappointment. "Wembley is the spiritual home of football for millions of people around the world and we have a responsibility to ensure that the new Wembley is going to be the best football stadium in the world," said Alec McGivan, director of the 2006 bid. David Moorcroft, head of UK Athletics, said he was "disappointed that Wembley will not now include provision for athletics..." Moorcroft said he still hoped to bid for the 2005 track championships by the Jan. 31 deadline. "We are conscious that this is a very tight deadline and will only go ahead if all parties agree that the alternative site to Wembley is a truly viable and sustainable option." The British Olympic Association straddled both fences saying in a statement it was "disappointing that a solution could not be found at Wembley which would have satisfied all parties." The BOA said it believed the original plan for athletics at Wembley would not have won an Olympic bid and called for "future facilities which can accommodate or be upgraded to Olympic requirements." The current north London stadium, opened in 1923, is to be demolished in 2000. Original plans called for the new stadium to be opened in 2003, but delays make 2004 seem more likely. The Norman Foster-designed stadium is to be topped by a 300-foot (91-meter) high arch, a symbolic replacement for Wembley's famous twin towers.
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