A ban on the sale of alcohol at Nationals means one of Bermuda's premier sporting events, the World Rugby Classic, is facing a race against time to find a new home.

The event may be forced to leave the Devonshire venue and while confident of finding a new home, organisers say a deal has to be found within a matter of weeks to allow this year's preparations to get under way.

The Classic was first played in 1988 and is an annual celebration of the game involving world class players that have left the international arena.

A total of 10 matches are held each year over the course of a week and, coupled with numerous social activities, it attracts huge crowds of Islanders and visitors.

However, Montessori Academy is due to take over occupancy of the venue in September and it is believed the body's no-alcohol policy will put paid to the Classic's association with Nationals as a considerable percentage of the money used to pay for the event comes from the sale of beer.

Rugby union also faces the prospect of moving on, although the Bermuda Rugby Football Union have been told they can see out the current season.

Although formal discussions between the three organisations are yet to take place and no definite decisions have been taken it is strongly felt there will be a parting of the ways.

Classic president John Kane said he could not discuss where the event might move to but he said several avenues were being explored.

Among the sites thought to being looked at are National Stadium on Frog Lane and BAA Field in Pembroke.

"There is no decision made, we have not met with anybody. What we simply know is it's not going to be at Nationals,'' he said.

"We are pretty certain. They (Montessori) have a no-alcohol policy which effectively closes that field to rugby.'' Kane went on: "We are just basically looking around the Island at various venues. We haven't gone into discussions with anybody, we are simply looking around to see what would fit into our plans. Once we determine there is somewhere that might be able to accomodate us we will go and have discussions with them.'' Asked whether he felt sad about having to leave Nationals, Kane said: "Very much so. Apart from the Classic being down there since 1988 I've been involved in rugby down there since 1971 to a large degree.

"The place has a lot of good memories and some of the best players in the world have played on that field.

"I consider it a big shame that one of the few sports areas in Bermuda is now actually going to be closed off to sports like the Classic.'' Kane said he believed the event could have continued at its present site had it not been for the ban on alcohol.

"I think it could have. But the fact is we do an awful lot of corporate hospitality down there and that does not seem to fit in with what their ideas are,'' he said.

Moving will mean plenty of problems for the organisation, Kane said.

"It will cause a huge amount of headaches. You are basically going back and starting again from the point of view of having to lay things out,'' he said.

Continued on page 29 Classic needs new venue Continued from page 27 Kane added: "We have been very comfortable in a venue for over 13 years and we have got it down pretty pat and it makes it a lot easier for us. You can rely on getting things done and are able to concentrate on more important things. Now we have to spend time on this.'' Kane said ideally matters needed to be sorted out by the end of next month.

"We'd have to have things pretty much tied down towards the end of February,'' he said. "We have got to promote this year's Classic and if we can't find the right venue then we have to consider where that leaves us.'' Asked whether he believed the event would go ahead this year Kane said: "If we get the right venue. I'm confident we will find a venue. But what I'm basically saying is we need to know by the end of February so we can start to tell people.

"We have got our corporate hospitality people making plans, we have teams making plans, we have got to start promoting this event based on all our television exposure.'' Margaret Hallett, principal at Montessori, said she hoped to meet both with Kane and rugby union representatives in the near future.

"We haven't had a chance to sit down and talk directly with them. So we need to do that first before any definitive decisions are made,'' she said, indicating a meeting may be held within the next month.

Asked whether the school operated a no-alcohol policy at present Hallett said: "There is certainly no drinking on our school property now.'' She added the Classic's need for corporate hospitality "may have an effect'' on whether the event stayed or went.

"I think that's something that needs to be talked through. We need to sit down and talk with them about what their needs are and what our needs are,'' she said.

Hallett confirmed that rugby union would be allowed to play out the remainder of this year's games.

"We wouldn't seek to stop them playing this season because they are in the middle of it right now and we are not going to be physically present there until September,'' she said.