FA close to resolving Wembley row

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An agreement to ensure the new Wembley Stadium is ready for the 2007 FA Cup Final is close, the BBC understands.

Negotiations between builders Multiplex and the Football Association are in their final stages and a deal could be announced within the next week.

In August, Multiplex claimed the 90,000 seat stadium would not be able to open before next June at the earliest.

Work on the venue has been hampered by disputes over who is responsible for a series of delays on the Â£757m project.

Sydney-based Multiplex has been seeking as much as Â£150m in compensation.

It claims the hold-ups have been caused by Wembley National Stadium Ltd, the FA subsiduary company which owns the new stadium.

However, the FA has argued that the delays have been caused by the Australian construction company.

But a compromise deal to resolve the compensation claims is now on the cards, involving a payment in the region of Â£30m by the FA to Multiplex.

The FA took out a Â£433m loan to build a new national stadium for England.

It was originally due to be completed in August 2005, but a host of problems have dogged it at various stages.