Football story by Vinnie Mitchell, Thu, 05 Jan 2006 10:40:00 GMT


Wembley stadium officials are confident of hosting this year's FA Cup final despite the fact that the construction work on the pedestrian subway from the station is four months behind schedule in addition to a host of other problems.

Presently, a dispute has risen over the £757 million walkway that will be named as the Olympic Pedway. Quintain Estates, which owns land over the area where it is being built, is reportedly worried about safety and health factors.

Quintain director Nick Shattock said on Wednesday: “Work to reconnect the Olympic Pedway to the stadium could not start until appropriate testing had taken place. Our concerns with regard to health and safety on our land have been paramount."

He added that Multiplex, the Australian contractor constructing the stadium, has some more time to carry out the work.

On the other hand, Multiplex said: “There are risks associated with meeting that date. Following access to the pedway being granted by Quintain, Multiplex and WNSL are now looking at options to enable Wembley Stadium to be accessed from Wembley Way for the target handover date.”

Earlier WNSL (Wembley National Stadium Ltd.), FA's subsidiary, had stated that cost overruns on the £326.5 million contract would be borne by Multiplex itself. But, according to reports on Tuesday, WNSL had not managed to secure access to a crucial area of the site, thereby relieving Multiplex of the additional expenses incurred and putting WSNL in a spot.

However, WNSL and Multiplex affirmed on Tuesday that they were working hard enough to make sure that the stadium would be ready by the FA Cup final time.

Meanwhile, William Hill Plc, Britian's second- largest bookie, has reduced the odds on London's Wembley staging F.A. Cup final in May to 1/2.

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