Wembley has had roof issues since the stadium was built in '07.getty images
The FA was "forced to install netting under the entirety of Wembley Stadium’s roof as a precautionary measure against any of it falling down," part of a long-running problem which is "one of the reasons the governing body is interested in selling" to NFL Jacksonville Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan, according to Sam Wallace of the London TELEGRAPH. The FA board decided in Sept. '13 that it needed to "take precautionary measures against the problem which dates back to the stadium’s opening" in '07, when it was discovered that roof panels had been "wrongly installed." The final decision to install the netting "is understood to have been undertaken when a part that had fallen from the roof was discovered in the stand during a non-matchday routine check." The roof problem was the center of a legal dispute between the FA and Wembley’s builders, Multiplex, which ruled in favor of the governing body, determining that the panels "had been installed wrongly when the stadium was built" (TELEGRAPH, 5/5).
PARLIAMENTARY DISCUSSION: In London, Jim van Wijk reported the future of Wembley will be discussed in parliament this summer, after the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee called on representatives of the FA and Sport England to attend a one-off meeting on July 18 to talk about the national stadium. U.K. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch will also attend. Khan has made the FA an offer of £800M ($1.08B) to purchase the venue. A potential stumbling block "surrounds measures which were implemented to guarantee the FA’s commitment to the stadium for 50 years" following an injection of £161M from public bodies during the redevelopment project, which was completed in '07. Those stem from the National Audit Office’s report in June '03 into the "English national stadium project at Wembley," which goes on to explain how "the public sector funders have secured protections to safeguard the public interest in the project" (INDEPENDENT, 5/4). The BBC reported DCMS Chair Damian Collins said that there should be "some public scrutiny" of any decision to sell the stadium. He added, "Wembley is the home of English football, built in part using public money. There should be some public scrutiny of any decision to sell the stadium and how proceeds from this could be invested to benefit the long-term future of the game." The FA said that it welcomed the move, adding that "it's an opportunity to talk about the future of the stadium, gain further input from key stakeholders and discuss our thorough review process of the offer that we have received" (BBC, 5/4).
SEEKING ASSURANCES: Wallace also reported the FA will seek assurances over any reconfiguration of Wembley’s seats in the event of a sale to Khan, with the current arrangement "meaning that the stadium has to operate at a reduced capacity for its NFL games." The narrower NFL field and the lines of players, staff and media, who commonly stand at the touchline during play, mean that when Khan’s Jacksonville Jaguars play their regular season game at Wembley, "the first rows of seats along the sidelines are unsuitable for spectators." Poor sightlines "mean they cannot be sold and the capacity is reduced to around 80,000 from 90,000." By contrast, Tottenham's new stadium "is purpose-built for NFL games with a retractable grass football pitch that sits on top of the synthetic NFL field." The cost of adapting Wembley to do the same "would be extortionate and there is no feasible room outside the stadium for a retractable grass pitch to sit" (TELEGRAPH, 5/4).
