St.Vincent and the Grenadines have stepped in to host Group E first round qualifying matches in the Digicel Cup soccer tournament after the Cayman Islands were forced to abandon plans to hold the tournament following damage inflicted by Hurricane Ivan.

Although specific dates have yet to be announced, CONCACAF media spokesperson Steve Torres confirmed yesterday that Group E matches involving Bermuda, St.Vincent, Cayman and British Virgin Islands would now be held in St.Vincent next month.

Torres pointed out that all first round matches had to be completed before the end of November as the second round is scheduled for early December.

?It must be taken into account all matches (first round) must be completed prior to a certain date,? said Torres. ?So matches must be completed by the end of November in order to accommodate the teams advancing to the second round of the competition.?

When contacted yesterday, Bermuda?s national coach Kyle Lightbourne declined to comment on the change of plan until officially notified by executives at the Bermuda Football Association.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, Cayman Island Football Association (CIFA) president Jeffrey Webb had been confident plans to stage the competition in that country would go ahead.

?We haven?t made any definite dates as to when we can host the tournament here. But as of right now we are still attempting to have the tournament played here,? Webb told at the time.

The designated venue for the competition, Truman Bodden Sports Centre, suffered considerable damage at the height of the hurricane.

According to CIFA general secretary, Bruce Blake, 40 percent of the Sports Centre?s roof on the main grandstand was torn off while changing room facilities, fencing bordering the football pitch and the facility?s lighting also sustained damage.

Those plans have now been jettisoned and all football in the Caribbean island has been ?suspended indefinitely? while emergency relief efforts in the region continue, said Blake.

The Digicel Cup will be played among 24 teams placed into six groups of four with the two top teams from each group progressing to the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) second round qualifiers, composed of six home-and-away series matches beginning in mid-December.

All second round winners will then advance to the third round when they will take part in three home-and-away encounters in early January, 2005 with the eventual victors joining host nation Barbados in the CFU final round of qualification in late February.

The region?s top three teams will all advance to next July?s CONCACAF Gold Cup competition at a venue yet to be officially announced.

* The Commercial A Division make up match involving PHC Raiders and North Village Rams will now be played this Saturday at Southampton Oval beginning at 3 p.m. while Sunday?s FA Cup match between Prospect/Fire and Prospect will now kick off at 2.30 p.m. instead of 12.30 p.m.