Paul Darby: Beaten by curse

The work incorporates vibrant red, yellow and orange colours, as recommended by feng shui experts who recently visited.

Sixty-three year-old Vicari is an internationally-renowed artist, and is the official painter for Interpol and the court of Saudi Arabia.

He is reported to be the highest-paid painter in the world, and the 2002 Sunday Times Rich List claimed he had a fortune of �40m.

At the weekend, Chelsea, who lost in the FA Cup final and Rushden and Diamonds, who lost in the Division Three play-off final, became the latest victims of the hoodoo.

The clubs join an illustrious list of losers including Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Birmingham City.

In reality there is no physical difference between the two dressing rooms and it is only a matter of time before this statistical anomaly is broken

Stadium manager Bob Evans

Stadium officials are keen to play down the talk of a jinx ahead of the crucial play-off finals this weekend.

Brentford and Stoke will contest the Division Two play-off final on Saturday, while Birmingham and Norwich will fight for promotion to the Premiership on Sunday.

Stadium manager Bob Evans said: "The Millennium Stadium offers a level playing field, in all senses of the phrase, to every team that plays here.

"In reality there is no physical difference between the two dressing rooms and it is only a matter of time before this statistical anomaly is broken.

"But this is the greatest stadium in the world and we are prepared to go to any lengths to ensure that all teams enjoy their Millennium Stadium experience."

The stadium hosts crucial play-offs at the weekend

Artist Vicari, from Port Talbot, is visiting Cardiff as part of the city's bid to become the European Capital of Culture.

Vicari, who has been described as "one of the great figurative artists of this century", hopes his work will have more luck than that of a feng shui expert who was brought in during March.

Nottingham-based Paul Darby carried out a feng shui blessing, involving bells, incense sticks and sea salt, in a bid to counter-balance the "bad spirits" in one end of the giant stadium ahead of the LDV Vans Trophy final.

But underdogs Cambridge promptly lost 4-1 to Blackpool after using the unlucky end.

Dr Darby has blamed negative energy from a media room in the stadium.

Both the stadium management and the Football League have said they do not believe there is a stadium jinx at all.

But they agree that superstition has always played a part in football.