bid to keep the smaller firm's hands off the World Cup.

ZBM cried foul and slapped VSB with a Supreme Court writ aimed at winning a one-match ban -- for the World Cup final.

Sunday's Brazil - France crunch match took a backseat after ZBM claimed VSB were offside in their plans to carry a live radio broadcast the game.

ZBM kicked off their legal action after VSB pledged to broadcast the through its link-up with the British Broadcasting Corporation's World Service.

But ZBM -- which will show the match on TV but not carry a radio broadcast -- claimed exclusive rights across the airwaves to the clash of the soccer titans.

And the firm have called in a Supreme Court judge to referee the row -- and are hoping VSB's plans will be booted into touch.

ZBM chiefs want Supreme Court to blow the legal whistle on the plan -- and the firm have warned their rivals they will pay the penalty if they broadcast the BBC's kick-by-kick account of the game.

But yesterday VSB insiders branded ZBM a bunch of spoilsports.

And now VSB are likely to challenge the ban in a bid to go ahead with their broadcast of the 4 p.m. final. A VSB insider said yesterday: "It's all very amusing -- it's just a game after all.

"We wanted to carry the match as a public service for people like taxi drivers and people out on boats on Sunday.'' The insider added that the original writ also referred to Wednesday's semi-final game between France and Croatia -- which VSB did not broadcast on radio because they were carrying live coverage of Senate. ZBM has rights to the World Cup through their association with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.

But it is understood that VSB have yet to be shown the full contract signed between the two.

ZBM boss Rick Richardson did not return several calls from The Royal Gazette yesterday. Kenneth DeFontes, owner of VSB, declined to comment on the soccer stand-off.

SOCCER SOC