And there must be some doubt about whether it will ever be built.

The club was planning to start construction on the 73,000-seat stadium in 2009.

The admission comes as the full year accounts of the club's holding company were published.

The company formed to run the football club, Kop Football (Holdings), revealed that its debts almost doubled from £43.9m to £86m despite a record turnover of £159.1m and a pre-tax profit of £30.2m for the year ended 31 July 2008.

On a day to day basis the results are robust but the debt overhang is now becoming an issue. The club owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett must renegotiate their existing £350m loan with Royal Bank of Scotland by July 24. The owners say they are confident of striking a deal, but there is some scepticism in the market.

Even if the financing is completed, it could be at a higher cost which in itself would make the stadium more difficult to fund.

Liverpool's auditor KPMG warned of a “material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt upon the group’s ability to continue as a going concern”.