Lack of grassroots guarantees reportedly caused the sale of Wembley to fall through.GETTY IMAGES
Mistrust and "drastically differing interpretations of the true financial windfall" from selling Wembley "lay at the heart of opposition" to the deal within the FA Council, according to Jeremy Wilson of the London TELEGRAPH. According to new correspondence, there was a "feeling inside the voting council" that the FA's forecast of £590M ($765M) was "hugely optimistic" and that the real grassroots figure was "likely to be little more than" £200M ($259.5M). This was because around £160M ($207.5M) was due to be repaid to the government, "in lieu of public funding" that was used to help pay for Wembley's construction. The professional game -- Premier League and English Football League -- would also have been "theoretically entitled to a significant share" -- understood to be more than £100M ($130M) -- of the remaining pot. There was concern among some councilors by a "perceived lack of absolute guarantees" and "thus scepticism at the likely funding available" via the Football Foundation to individual county associations. One councilor said that the Football Foundation "should have provided further clarification and reassurance to counties." Other councilors said that the FA's case was "compelling and complete." Another councilor said, "There was a lot of confusion over what was on the table and a concerning lack of appetite and perhaps understanding from the people it should have most benefited" (TELEGRAPH, 10/22).
