LONDON, March 31- The new Wembley stadium will not be ready to host any
soccer matches this year, the English Football Association said on Friday.
Australian constructor Multiplex had originally planned to complete the
90,000-seater stadium on January 31, comfortably in time for the FA Cup final in
May, but has been hit by a series of embarrassing setbacks.
"Further to recent meetings with Multiplex and Wembley National Stadium
Limited (WNSL), it is clear that the construction of Wembley Stadium is
significantly behind schedule," the FA said in a statement.
"Multiplex has now supplied WNSL and The FA with an updated schedule. From
the new schedule it is apparent that Wembley will not be available to host our
autumn fixtures.
"The FA is taking the prudent measure of booking new venues for all of our
fixtures until the year end."
The delay means the season-opening Community Shield and England's home Euro
2008 qualifiers against Andorra and Macedonia in September and October will be
moved to alternative venues.
The 750 million pound ($1.30 billion) redevelopment in north west London has
been dogged by a series of problems and costs have soared, forcing Multiplex to
issue six profit warnings last year.
Multiplex said earlier on Friday it expected to substantially complete work
at Wembley by the end of June and expected no further change to the project's
financial position.
The old Wembley, probably the most famous soccer stadium in the world, hosted
Cup finals between 1923 and 2000.
Since redevelopment started, the showpiece FA Cup final has been played at
Cardiff's Millennium Stadium and England have played home matches at venues
around the country.