THE Australian company building the beleaguered Wembley Stadium could now get a role constructing a major 2012 Olympics project.

Multiplex may secure the contract to build the Stratford City development - which will be used as the athletes' village and press centre during the Olympics.

The possibility has arisen because of a dispute between co-owners of the east London project, billionaire businessmen the Reuben brothers and another Australian firm, Westfield, who are trying to buy each other's stake in the development.

Multiplex did originally have a 25 per cent stake in the project but sold it to the Reuben brothers as losses on the delayed construction of Wembley Stadium soared.

If the Reuben brothers successfully buy out Westfield then they will reportedly be obliged to hire Multiplex, because of a clause in the sale of their stake.

"We sold to the Reubens because we would retain those opportunities if we wanted to take them when the time came," a Multiplex spokesman told The Age newspaper in Australia.

Last month it was announced that the £797 million Wembley Stadium would not be opened until 2007. The stadium was meant to have opened in the autumn of last year, but now planned concerts and major sports events have had to be rescheduled because of delays.

The project has already cost Multiplex £106 million.

Last month London mayor Ken Livingstone slated David and Simon Reuben over delays to the Stratford project.

The mayor claimed the magnates caused "serious deadlines" to be missed in planning applications for the development.

"Perhaps if they're not happy they can always go back (to Iran) and see if they can do better under the ayatollahs," Mr Livingstone said.

The jibe made the headlines because the tycoon brothers are not Iranian, but were born in India from Iraqi Jewish parents.

But the only apology Mr Livingstone offered was to the "people of Iran", for "any suggestion that they be linked in any way to the Reuben brothers".

Last year strife between the brothers and three other developers prompted the London Development Agency (LDA) to threaten them with a compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the site. That could have ended the entire scheme.

But an agreement was reached, allowing the LDA to take over the site if the work fell behind schedule.

Such a move would cost the taxpayer up to £700 million, Mr Livingstone said.

"It is actually time that the wider public know there is a risk," he told the London Assembly.

"I don't care where (the Reubens) come from, what their religion is or what their names are. If they're threatening the progress of the Olympics and threatening the taxpayer with another £700 million, I'm going to be critical of them."