Former FA Chair Greg Dyke says "old men" on the council scuttled deal to sell Wembley Stadium.getty images
Opposition which caused the £600M ($783.3M) sale of Wembley to collapse is "bizarre" and led by "old men," former FA Chair Greg Dyke said, according to the BBC. Premier League side Fulham Owner Shahid Khan withdrew an offer for the stadium "because of a lack of support from FA Council members." Dyke: "The council is living in the past, as it always has done. If I'd been chairman, I would have said it is the board's decision. I don't think the council is equipped to make this decision -- that is what the FA board is for." FA execs made a presentation to the FA Council on "why they backed the sale" and the 127 members "had been due to vote on the issue" on Oct. 24. Dyke said, "The FA has only owned Wembley for 10 to 15 years. Before that, it was a private business. The idea you are going to lose something of value to Britain because it is not owned by the FA is the wrong one compared to spending £600 million doing what is desperately needed in this country and that is to spend money on grassroots facilities. ... It's bizarre that the old men of the FA Council have stopped this" (BBC, 10/21).
