Rumours are emerging out of the United Kingdom that the Wembley Stadium could be sold to in a sale-and-leaseback deal.
According to the Guardian, English football club the Tottenham Hotspur are considering buying the Wembley Stadium as their new home.
According to the Guardian, the Spurs is looking to move out of its smaller home at White Hart Lane and if it buys Wembley would lease it back to the English Football Association for England games and the FA Cup matches.
English media is also reporting that the Spurs are not alone with football team West Ham United also circling the stadium for their new home.
Either way and if the deal proceeds, the clubs will go into significant debt.
If the deal does proceed it will provide English Football Association’s subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited, the owner of the complex an exit, which has borrowed £433 million ($A1 billion) to build the project.
WNSL is currently locked in a major legal stoush with Multiplex. Last week, Multiplex was awarded £20 million (approximately $A50 million) in adjudications.
Multiplex is also drawing a £350 million against WNSL. Multiplex claimed that WNSL made 500 changes to the design brief, which contributed to the delays at Wembley Stadium.
Last month, Multiplex warned that the new stadium would not be ready to host the 2007 FA Cup Final in May and blamed WNSL for failing to commence client works necessary to hold the test events needed for Wembley to receive operating licences and achieve practical completion.
The stadium was originally scheduled for completion by January, in time for last May’s FA Cup final.
In June this year, Multiplex won a preliminary trial against steel sub contractor Cleveland Bridge United Kingdom in the London High Court. However, any damages and remedies against CBUK totalling £32.66 million ($A81 million) are unlikely to be awarded before the court hearing in January 2007.
By Adam Parsons and Nelson Yap
