FOOTBALL stadia have been very much in the news this week.

I was glad to see common sense prevail when the Football Association snubbed Cardiff City's request to switch their FA Cup third round tie with Leeds United to the Millennium Stadium.

Cardiff owner Sam Hammam claimed the South Wales club were "substantially bigger" than the Yorkshire giants as he pleaded with the FA to move the January 6 fixture from Ninian Park to Wales' 72,500-capacity national stadium.

If wanting to make as much money as possible lay behind Hammam's claims you could perhaps understand his reasoning.

But the way Cardiff have been throwing money around since he has taken over you wouldn't think finances are their main concern.

And Hammam was actually quoted as saying he didn't want the tie switched to make financial gain.

But if that's the case what other reason could there be for wanting to move the game?

If they were claiming they wanted the tie moved on safety grounds then that is not a very good indictment of Ninian Park.

Cardiff's main concern, you would have thought, is to beat Leeds. I'm sure they will have a better chance of beating Leeds at Ninian Park than the Millennium Stadium.

Perhaps it was Hammam's way of building up the tie, but was there any real need?

They are going to have a full house at Ninian Park, which holds more than 15,000, and that it is already a high profile match is endorsed by the fact the game will be broadcast live on Sky TV, for which will they will pocket an extra £265,000.

In any case, did he really expect the FA to grant his request to play the tie at the Millennium Stadium when the final will be played there?

I think he was being over-optimistic.

Linked to the FA Cup and the Millennium Stadium is the future of Wembley and the plans for a national stadium.

It was also heartening to hear the FA this week admitting the farce has dragged on too long and has promised to "make things clearer soon".

The situation has become an embarrassment and the sooner a decision is made, whatever that might be, the better.

Whether we have a national stadium or not, whether it is at a revamped Wembley or in the Midlands, a decision and some direction is needed as soon as possible. We need clarity.

Personally, I'm not sure we actually need a national stadium for football.

True enough, as a kid you grew up dreaming of playing in an FA Cup final at Wembley.

And certainly, while there is no doubt the Millennium Stadium is a fantastic venue, it doesn't quite conjure up the allure of Wembley.

But countries like Spain, Germany and Italy don't have a national stadium.

And with all the new state of the art stadia that have been built and with a few more in the pipeline - Arsenal were this week given permission to build a new ground - is there a need for another multi-million-pound stadium?

One thing that has been proved during the whole sorry saga is that playing England internationals at different venues around the country has been a big success.

Fans who wouldn't normally have had the chance to see England play have done so, the atmosphere has been great and the team have done well.

So if England can play their games elsewhere the only question that remains is where do you play the FA Cup final if you don't have a national stadium?

I firmly believe the English cup final should be played in England.

But to build a brand new stadium for, in effect, the sake of one game a year seems extravagant in the extreme.

Bearing in mind we haven't got very far because of the money involved, whatever money they were prepared to spend could be spent in better ways by the FA.

In the meantime, if Sam Hammam really wants to see his team play at the Millennium Stadium then he can - he just has to hope Cardiff make it all the way to the final!