The fate of the 20-20 World Cricket Classic is hanging in the balance after a proposal from the organisers asking for future Government sponsorship was submitted to Cabinet on Tuesday.

Get Fit Foundation chief executive Keith Pont ? head of the English charity behind the Classic ? made it clear in April that the event would make a loss in its first year.

He warned also that their desire to make it an annual fixture on the Island?s sporting calendar was entirely dependent on Government?s continued backing.

But with Sports Minister Dale Butler currently overseas attending the Small Island Games AGM, repeated attempts to uncover whether Cabinet had reached a decision were unsuccessful yesterday, with Pont also in the dark as to what their intentions are.

Captained by Irving Romaine, Bermuda beat the West Indies and England to reach the hugely popular Classic final, where they lost in front of a capacity crowd at the National Sports Centre to the rampant South Africans.

?I can confirm that we have submitted a very detailed proposal to the Bermuda Government and we are keenly awaiting a response,? Pont said.

?We knew going into the first year that it was unlikely that we were going to make a profit from the Classic or even break even, but through help from the Government and all our corporate sponsors, I think I can safely say that we managed to put on a very exciting event which caught the imagination of the public.

?The feedback from the players has also been fantastic and I?ve had calls from all over the world from people telling me they?re going to bring even stronger teams next year. We have also been looking into improving the event in the other ways, such as seeing if we can get it televised live.

?But it is fair to say that without the support of the Government, the Classic will cease to be a viable enterprise, so there is a lot riding on their decision. Ideally we would like to have a response as soon as possible so we know where we stand, and I?ll certainly be waiting eagerly for the phone to ring.?

Meanwhile, Butler insisted in April that Government were extremely happy with how the Classic unfolded, although he added that this did not automatically guarantee they would be willing to part with another million dollars.

?Overall everyone was delighted with the organisation of the tournament,? he said.

?In an ideal world we would be very happy to have it back next year, but there are many different people we have to consult before a decision is made as well as looking at the finances of the whole thing.

?We also have to look at it from a tourism perspective because the GEFF group promised us a certain number of visitors and we have to look at whether they met those pledges and if the potential is there to attract more.

?So it is not a simple question and it is going to take us time to garner all the relevant information and then come to a decision which is in the best interests of all concerned.?