Wembley funding row

The project to rebuild Wembley would struggle to get off the ground because of cash problems if it were starting from scratch now, one of Britain's leading sports officials said today.

Responding to criticism from a House of Commons report on the national stadium project, Sport England chief executive Roger Draper said his organisation would be unable to find the cash for the stadium today because of falling Lottery funds going into sport.

Sport England has pumped £120million into the £757m stadium which should be finished in early 2006. Draper said: 'If we were doing it now, the funding would not have been there.' The report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee accused Sport England of leaving itself 'exposed' by handing over the cash at the start of the project without requiring the Football Association 'to contribute funding itself or to provide a guarantee to underwrite the grant'.

The report said: 'Had the project collapsed, it is doubtful that the Lottery money would have been recovered.'

The FA has since agreed to invest £148m into the renovation of Wembley although chief executive Mark Palios is having to work hard to balance the organisation's finances because of the burden.

But Draper added: 'At the time it was the right thing to do. I think it was an example of well-managed risk-taking. But there have been lessons learned.'

The 90,000-seater stadium is due to witness a spectacular development in the next six weeks when the 133metre-high arch, which will hold up the roof, is put in place. Taller than the London Eye, it is poised to become a major landmark in the capital.