Government coffers will not be opened for Bermuda's forthcoming World Cup soccer qualifiers, Sports Minister Dale Butler said yesterday.

Bermuda Football Association are bringing in Trinidad and Tobago for two warm-up games and then face Montserrat home and away in February and March as the serious business of journeying along the road to Germany 2006 begins.

The BFA has said that this involves a great deal of expense on its part and will force them to dip into their coffers just shortly after accommodating the Barbados national team who played a series of games over Christmas.

In an interview with a rival newspaper earlier this week, BFA General Secretary David Sabir bemoaned the lack of finances available to the organisation.

"The country has to decide whether it's going to lend its support for the good that we do and work with us as we try and get through the challenges we face," he said, adding that other countries around the world were investing a lot of money in the sport because there was a belief "that football does a lot of good for a nation".

However, Butler said as much as he would like to help, his hands were tied.

"The BFA did make a presentation to us and we will be restating our policy and asking sporting organisations to give us much more lead time, two to three to four years lead time, so that we don't find ourselves with a crunch decision," he said. "Preparation is being now made to find funds, not only for the BFA, but we also have on the horizon a couple of other international sports (events), including the first ever Squash Open in Bermuda.

"We are seeing whether or not we can or cannot be of assistance to them. We have the 2007 (cricket) World Cup, at least we have some notice there. The bidding committee is working extremely hard to put the facts and figures together so we will have some facts for the finance minister to consider.

"We don't have the money for any of those sports at the moment but we are working very hard, because football and cricket are our national sports, (in the hope) of being of assistance to them."

Butler stressed any help for football would be in the long term and not in the coming weeks.

"Looking long-term I am hoping we can catch up," he said. "But the budget we have submitted to finance includes all of their needs as far as the World Cup, it's just that we didn't have sufficient time, given the country's needs after (Hurricane) Fabian (and) the needs of other ministries.

"It has taken us a little longer to get an answer. Although the funds might not be there for that particular match, I can assure you as the Minister, we are working hard to find the funds."

Bermuda has applied to take part in the 2005 CONCACAF Under-20 soccer tournament.

A total of 31 countries have submitted their applications to compete in the Under-20 qualifying rounds that will ultimately lead to places in the Under-20 FIFA World Youth Championships in 2005 taking place in the Netherlands.

This is three more than competed in this event last time. The final round of the CONCACAF qualifying event is due to take place between February and March, 2005, with FIFA Championship taking place later that year.

Confirmed National Associations for 2005 CONCACAF Under-20 Qualification: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Suriname, Saint-Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, US Virgin Islands