If Bermuda host any pre-World Cup matches, they will have to do so with the National Sports Centre (NSC) exactly as it is.

Deputy chairman of the Board of Trustees Sean Tucker yesterday disclosed that though plans are afoot to start work on the long-awaited Centre Core by yearend, it will take two to three years to build.

?We?re looking at two to three years. It?s a huge project,? he said when asked about the completion time frame.

Regarding the proposed start on the Centre Core in fall of this year, Tucker noted that, while that?s what officials desire, it may not be possible.

?We would like to but at this stage it probably seems somewhat unrealistic to expect that we would be able to start in the fall.

?It?s ideally what we would like but a lot depends on getting the money in place, getting the workers and getting the final plans approved. It?s just a matter of the time it would take to put all those things in place.

?There is a Cabinet sub-committee looking into how the construction will be funded. Once that?s all finalised then we will be able to break ground.?

However, on Thursday, Premier Alex Scott indicated the money issue had been resolved and that the NSC would be progressing swiftly.

?We have resourced money for the national stadium. That?s going to have a first-rate cricket facility and they (Bermuda?s cricketers) will benefit from that prior to 2007,? stated Scott in reaction to the Island?s qualification for the World Cup in the West Indies.

Tucker, who was unable to say whether construction plans would change given the Island?s cricket success, reasoned Bermuda could host international matches within certain limitations.

?The NSC has always been a construction site because it?s been incomplete and so there would be limitations on what we can host while the construction is going on.

?But what you see there now is able to host competitions. So I don?t think the construction will prevent us from hosting anything while it?s taking place,? he said, noting it would be a question of ensuring construction materials and the movement by workers did not affect play.

?It would be feasible with some give and take.?

Architectural drawings for the Centre Core, which has an estimated price tag of $100 million, are currently being finalised. A team from the NSC have just returned from meeting with architectural consultant Bob Johnston on the design and related matters.

Stating that Johnston is ?one of the pre-eminent sports architects in the world?, Tucker disclosed the Canadian had put together the City of London?s winning bid for the 2012 Olympics.