Wembley in running for Champions League final

Football Association chiefs will discover in October if their bid for Wembley to host the 2008 Champions League final has been successful.

The new, and still incomplete, stadium will face competition from eight other venues to land European football’s showpiece event.

Yesterday the unfinished stadium was evacuated and construction workers sent home after an incident involving the roof of the arena.

“There will be an examination of all sites from April to June and then the final decision is foreseen to be taken at the executive committee meeting of UEFA in October,” a UEFA spokesman said.

Earlier this month, the FA announced this season’s FA Cup final would be played at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium after construction company Multiplex could not guarantee that the £757m (€1.1bn) 90,000-seat stadium would be ready for May 13.

Wembley will face stiff competition for the 2008 final, with Germany, Italy and Portugal lodging two bids apiece, and grounds in Russia and Spain completing the list of competitors.