Bob Stubbs, chief executive of Wembley National Stadium Limited, said plans for the Foster/HOK-Lobb-designed £240m venture must be tested financially before aesthetics come into play.
The central features of the stadium design, due to be revealed in late July, will be the sports facilities and seating for 90 000. The exterior will be built around this core.
"It might be pretty, but if it doesn't work, it will be a commercial disaster," Stubbs told delegates at the Stadia & Arena 2000 conference in London.
Asked how the client team at Wembley would ensure that contractors building the stadium would not hit financial trouble – as Laing did at Cardiff – Stubbs said contractors would be given a scheme that was almost fully designed to bid against next April.
