Irish newspaper Sunday Business Post reports about the difficulties for Croke Park in Dublin to accomodate the stage designed for Madonna’s Confessions Tour.

The article states that Madonna originally planned to include the new Wembley Stadium in her upcoming summer tour, but delays in building the London stadium forced Madonna to cancel the show and – as a result – to cancel all her other outdoor gigs, including Croke Park, and moved all of her dates to indoor venues.

Please note that – according to all reports – this information is not correct, and there is no reason to believe that the “Confessions Tour” will not include any stadium concerts (if you think about it, the “stage not big enough” and “indoor shows only” things do not seem to get along well indeed).

“Pop icon Madonna pulled out of a proposed stadium concert at Croke Park later this year following a dispute over the size of the stage.

Madonna had agreed to play Croke Park as part of her upcoming world tour, which kicks off in May. Contracts for the gig had been prepared and provisional dates had been set.

However, the pop star pulled out of the gig at the last moment following issues with the size of her stage. American singer Billy Joel was subsequently drafted in to replace the singer.

Madonna had originally intended to play a number of stadium gigs, including a showpiece event at the new Wembley Stadium. However, delays in building the London stadium forced Madonna to cancel the show. As a result, Madonna cancelled all her other outdoor gigs, including Croke Park, and moved all of her dates to indoor venues. It is understood that the size of her custom-built indoor stage was not compatible with Croke Park dimensions.

“The issue stemmed from Wembley. If Wembley was available, Madonna would be playing Croke Park. But her people decided it was not worth building a special stage for just one gig,” said a source close to the proposed concert.

Wembley was due to be completed last autumn, but has been hit by a series of delays. The builders, Multiplex, are due to announce a new completion date in the coming days.

From the Sunday Business Post