The English FA last night moved to dismiss fears that the chaos surrounding plans for the new £475 million Wembley stadium could undermine England's bid for the 2006 World Cup.
The British Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Chris Smith has sent planners back to the drawing board and given them two weeks to come up with a redesign that would allow the Olympics to be held in the new arena.
FA executive director David Davies acknowledged the difficulties in satisfying all parties but said the new Wembley would continue to be the centre-piece of England's World Cup bid.
Davies said: "Football, the national sport, has always recognised the difficulties of creating a stadium ideal for both our sport and a possible Olympic Games bid in the future. The concerns expressed today relate solely to the Olympic issue."
Chris Smith has admitted that any possible solution would inevitably be a compromise and has therefore begun a separate investigation into whether athletics should be given their own new home away from Wembley. That scenario would leave football and rugby to go it alone in the new stadium.
But it would inevitably deprive Wembley National Stadium Ltd of a significant part of their £120 million National Lottery funding and present them with a major financial headache just months before the choice of World Cup venue is made.
The British Olympic Association and Sports Minister Kate Hoey have objected because there is no permanent athletics track in the plans, with the designers advocating a temporary platform to be put in place if the 2012 Olympics or 2005 World Athletics Championships came to London - cutting the capacity from 90,000 to about 65,000.
