Tottenham’s new stadium may not be ready to host football matches until late March in a shattering new setback, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim the 62,000-capacity venue has been hit by delays caused by faulty wiring affecting critical safety systems and they have yet to be fully resolved.
The Mail report that experts must cover thousands of miles of wiring to find the faults and the “ongoing delays have increased the likelihood that the stadium may not be ready to host football matches until the Spring”.
The venue was originally expected to host its first match in mid-September, before delays pushed the date back to December.
OPINION
Talk about a bombshell, just when the stadium appeared to be getting ready for the test events and the final green light before the grand opening. This is shattering news for Tottenham fans, and a potentially huge embarrassment for the club. Exciting images have emerged in recent weeks of the pitch being laid, the goalposts erected and the finishing touches being put to what looks a magnificent stadium that will host Spurs matches for generations to come. Behind the scenes, though, everything is seemingly far from hunky dory. The Mail report major issues with wiring, including in some cases where wiring has been built over. That is something that cannot easily be undone, even with hundreds of workers on hand. Many fans will claim it is bad enough the club not hosting its first match until December – the 15 December match against Burnley has been mooted, or even until the start of January. But late March would mean the entire season would be wiped out, and that would be devastating.