Wembley: Shahid Khan withdraws his "controversial" offer to buy the national stadium at the FA

Fulham's owner, Shahid Khan, withdrew his offer to buy the Wembley Stadium from the Football Association, after the project became "a source of division".

Khan had donated 600 million pounds for the national stadium, with the FA retaining the Wembley Club membership of 250 to 300 million pounds.

The decision was "more confrontational than expected," said Martin Glenn, chief of the FA.

Khan did not rule out making another bid in the future if there was more support from the FA board members.

The FA had announced that it would invest the proceeds of the sale in the improvement of basic football facilities.

Last week, FA leaders presented to the AF Council the reasons why they condoned the sale to Khan. The 127 board members had to vote on the proposed sale on October 24th.

A senior FA official told BBC Sport that the board felt that the odds were slightly against the purchase, given the strong objections of some advisers against the sale of the English football house.

Football club director Glenn said Khan felt his offer "would be well received by all football stakeholders".

However, Glenn added, "At a recent meeting with Mr. Khan, he explained to us that, without stronger support from the game, his offer was perceived as a more important factor of division than expected and decided to withdraw his proposal.

"Wembley Stadium is an iconic revered place worldwide and it will continue to flourish under the ownership and direction of the FA."

Khan, who was planning to move his NFL football team – the Jacksonville Jaguars – to Wembley, said he wanted to "act right for everyone, so as to strengthen the English game and bring the rather than divide them ".

"Unfortunately, given the current state of affairs, I concluded that the result of a vote next week would be far from sufficient to express the broad support desired by the President of the FA for the sale of Wembley Stadium.

"Until a time when it is clear that there is an indisputable directive from the FA to explore and close a sale, I respectfully withdraw my offer to buy Wembley Stadium."

The FA was committed to keeping important events, such as most of the English internationals and the FA Cup final, at the stadium against agreed rental fees in advance.

Pros and cons – what they said

FOR

The FA stated that only one out of every three basic ground was of sufficient quality and that it would invest in facilities.

Martin Glenn, Director General of the FA: "This is an opportunity to release an unprecedented amount of investment in community football.Having an offer to sell the Wembley Stadium is not a" betrayal ". is not selling "the soul of the game". "

AGAINST

Opponents had suggested that selling an iconic national site was a short-term plan that the FA would regret.

Gary Neville, former defender of England and Manchester United: "The Federation feels it should fund the local program, it has to sell a national asset – it's just ridiculous.Do not sell Wembley when you can charge a fee on agent fees."