FA confirms Cup final will be held in Cardiff

Football Association (FA) chief executive, Brian Barwick, has confirmed that this season's FA Cup final has been moved from Wembley to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Official confirmation from the FA came after Multiplex – the Australian company responsible for building the new Wembley Stadium – released a statement to the Australian stock exchange saying that the Football Association (FA) required "100 per cent certainty that the venue will be fully functional by 13 May 2006".

Barwick reiterated this message, saying: "It is clear that while they have over 3,500 people working hard on the site, Multiplex and indeed Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL) are unable to give us 100 per cent certainty that the stadium will be completed in time for the FA Cup final.

"Due to the magnitude of the cup final, we are not prepared to compromise or take any risks on the stadium being unable to stage such a significant event," he said.

The decision came after an inspection visit on Monday by Barwick, along with Michael Cunnah – WNSL's chief executive and Martin Tidd, Multiplex's chief executive.