LONDON -- London Mayor Sadiq Khan will seek a number of assurances from the Football Association over the potential sale of Wembley to Shadid Khan when his team meets with them this week.
The Mayor, who was talking at the announcement of Major League Baseball's London Series, wants the FA to make a number of guarantees over the availability of Wembley and where the money generated will go if they sell to Shadid Khan, the owner of Fulham FC and Jacksonville Jaguars.
News broke in late April of Shadid Khan's interest in buying Wembley in a deal worth a reported £800m. The latest report suggests any potential deal will have to wait until the autumn, and there may yet be a Parliamentary inquiry into the planned sale.
But when Sadiq Khan's team meets the FA, he wants some cast-iron guarantees over where the money generated will go and Wembley's availability for marquee football events.
"This is a deal that's been made between the FA and Shad Khan," Sadiq Khan told ESPN. "It's really important though that whatever deal is made between Shad Khan and the FA, if it is the case that Wembley is sold to Shad Khan, we have got to make sure that there are reassurances there.
"We have got to make sure, for example, tax-payers money is reimbursed. We have got to make sure, for example, that it continues to be the home of our national football team. It's really important that Wembley is where England plays.
"Also, cup finals have got to carry on taking place at Wembley, really important semifinals carry on taking place at Wembley. "But also any monies that the FA receives should be invested in grassroots sports so these are various questions that we have of the FA and I am hoping that they will give us the reassurances that we need."
Part of Shad Khan's plans for Wembley include seeing his Jaguars play some of their NFL matches there and the Mayor hopes we will see a franchise permanently based in London in the future.
"We are hoping to persuade the NFL to have a team that has a permanent franchise in London," Sadiq Khan said. "That would be fantastic, eight games would be amazing. Whenever I see the commissioner when it comes to NFL I sort of tease him and say 'When are we having the Super Bowl?' in London."