Wembley lessons learned says London 2012 chief Coe

BEIJING, Apr 10 (Reuters) The 2012 Olympics will not have the same construction problems that have beset the new Wembley Stadium, London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said today.

The 750 million pound (1.3 billion dollars) redevelopment was scheduled for completion in January but has been hit by a series of embarrassing setbacks, forcing the relocation of all soccer matches planned for the stadium until the end of the year.

Coe, chairman of the London Committee for the Organisation of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), said the initial debate about whether a new national stadium would be in Birmingham or London and which sports it would host had hampered the project from the start.

''Wembley wasn't dealt the best deck of cards,'' Coe told Reuters on a fact-finding trip to 2008 Olympic host city Beijing today.

''First they had to decide what to put in it, then they had planning and land acquisition problems and then they were surprised that the banks were a little queasy about getting involved on the back of that uncertainty.'' ''I'm not cavalier enough to think there are no lessons to be learned but I think a lot of those things we got in place in the bid phase, such as matters of planning and knowing what our venues are for.

''I think if there is a lesson to be learned, we've learned it.'' The double Olympic champion said there were plenty of better examples of successful British construction projects, such as Heathrow airport's new terminal and the Arsenal soccer stadium in north London.

''Wembley is often cited as being totemic of British construction but I don't think it is,'' he said.

''There are a lot of big projects delivered to budget and on time.

''Having said that, Wembley will be a spectacular stadium, probably the best in the world and, whatever the temporary difficulties, it will have no impact on our ability to stage the final of the football competition there in 2012.'' REUTERS PM PM1501