Bermuda?s World Cup campaign hangs in the balance with an accommodation shortage causing the postponement of next week?s second leg qualifying tie at the National Sports Centre.

El Salvador officials are claiming the game will now have to be played in the US ? either Los Angeles or Miami ? on June 20, although the BFA vehemently deny this, stating the match will instead be played on home soil on Friday, July 9.

Officials from the El Salvador Football Federation confirmed they had been unable to book accommodation for their squad, due to arrive in midweek, and had been advised by soccer?s regional governing body CONCACAF that unless the BFA could secure sufficient hotel beds the match venue would have to be changed.

CONCACAF have reportedly advised both countries that the date of the second leg match cannot be moved. El Salvador coach Juan Ramon Paredes said he had only recently been advised of the problem, adding that he expected a meeting between his Federation chiefs and BFA officials to take place once the Bermuda squad had settled into their hotel following arrival last night.

?My bosses tell me that Bermuda have already talked to CONCACAF and told them that they don?t have any hotel for us,? said Paredes.

?Apparently the hurricane you had last year caused a lot of problems.

?Now they are saying the game might have to be played in Los Angeles. Our authorities expect to talk with the people of Bermuda when they arrive.

?If we have to go to Los Angeles, no problem. We?d be happy to play there. Anywhere, we?ll play. The main thing is that the game is played, because everybody is ready. We can?t change the date, everybody is ready to play.?

But BFA president Larry Mussenden denied CONCACAF had turned down the request, telling The Royal Gazette that he expected permission to be granted for the game to be moved to Friday, July 9 ? and was quick to rule out any chance of the tie being moved outside the Island.

?We have been unable to secure accommodation for the El Salvadorians,? confirmed Mussenden, who didn?t travel down to Central America for Sunday?s first leg tie.

?We tried every alternative but were unable to find anyway. We have informed both CONCACAF and FIFA and have arranged provisionally for the game to be played on July 9.

?The stadium is provisionally booked for the date and so are flights and accommodation.

?We still need to talk with the El Salvadorian Federation about the alternative date but I am confident that there should be no problem in organising the change of date.

?There is no way this game is going to be played in the US.?

He added that discussions would take place today between the BFA, CONCACAF and FIFA and a decision is expected to be made by the end of the day.

With the Newport-Bermuda Yacht Race scheduled to begin next Friday, it has been known for some time that hotel beds would be in short supply on the Island, but it was unclear last night whether the responsibility for booking accommodation rested with the BFA or the El Salvador Federation. Regardless, should CONCACAF order that the venue be switched it would serve as a massive financial blow to the BFA who only earlier this month were handed more than $20,000 by Government when it was learned they could not afford the trip to El Salvador.

Were CONCACAF to reschedule the game in Los Angeles, the BFA could be saddled with another bill of similar proportions, in addition to losing out on the revenue which would be generated by a game on home turf.