Stadium plans sent to the sidelines in pay dispute

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
After a "marathon" of discussions and negotiations lasting several months, the city of Netanya and the Ramet building company have decided that the company will not complete the building work on the city's new sports stadium after all, reports www.mynet.co.il. The city will now issue a new tender for the construction, with the result that the partly constructed stadium is not expected to be finished before January 2012. According to the report, the two sides have been in dispute for months over payment for the continuation of the work, but have now agreed to part ways. City officials are currently preparing a new tender for the project. "This is a severe blow for the city of Netanya," an unidentified senior official said, and added that now the work would take several more years and that the city would be unable to host the European youth soccer championship in two years, as it had been planning to do.