Soccer: FA can’t find funding for Wembley National Stadium

No 10 said the Government could not meet the £150m shortfall in the project funding, with costs for the stadium rising from an initial £334m to £660m at latest estimates.

‘‘The Football Association is announcing this afternoon that they have been unable to procure funding for the Wembley national stadium,’’ said the spokesman.

‘‘Clearly that is disappointing. It is important to recognise that this has always been an FA project. It has never been a Government project and it was always the case that the FA would secure the necessary funding from the City to make this viable.’’

The spokesman said assurances that this would be possible and was in train were given as late as last year but towards the end of that year it became clear this was not the case.

A lottery grant of £120m had been given by the last government to purchase the Wembley site ‘‘and the FA have not been able to meet the funding gap from City backers in the way that they would have wanted’’.

According to FA figures, that gap was ‘‘something like £100 to £150m at the moment and they don’t feel that given the length of time they have spent seeking backers and the fact they have been unable to secure them in the way they would have liked, that they cannot secure them at this stage’’, said the spokesman.

The FA has been in discussions with Downing Street - though not Mr Blair personally - and the Culture Department over funding in recent days, added the spokesman.

‘‘We have made it clear that we remain committed to the proposals for a new national stadium and we will work with the various authorities to look at different options but that doesn’t mean the Government can simply write blank cheques or act as a national bank for projects which encounter funding difficulties,’’ he went on.

‘‘The Government cannot step in as a banker of last resort.’’