In 33 days? time, Kyle Lightbourne?s new-look national team will have their first taste of international competition.

A spokesman for the St. Vincent and Grenadines Football Federation (SVGFF), who have stepped in after the original venue in Cayman was devastated by Hurricane Ivan, confirmed the Digicel Cup would be staged on the island on November 24, 26 and 28.

Although Bermuda Football Association seem somewhat in the dark over the logistics of the tournament ? the first step on the road to next year?s Gold Cup ? Clemroi Francois, office manager at the SVGFF, told the competition was on for those dates, pending final ratification from regional governing body CONCACAF.

?Yes, we are very much looking forward to hosting this event,? said Francois. ?There are a few difficulties we are having organising things at such short notice but we will be ready.?

He revealed that the SVGFF were asked to host the four-team event, which will see Bermuda take on the hosts, Cayman and the British Virgin Islands, after the hurricane put sport in Cayman way down the pecking order of priorities.

The SVGFF president travelled to Cayman before finally making the decision to step in as hosts.

And Francois revealed that his Island would be seeking financial assistance from CONCACAF as the tournament was unlikely to raise much revenue.

?We will be asking for assistance,? continued Francois, whose national team are a win away from qualification to the final stages of World Cup qualifying. ?We don?t have any lights at the Arnos Vale Stadium where we will be holding the games.

?At the moment the format is double-headers each day, but we are going to have to start at 2 p.m. which will mean very few spectators will be able to make it down.?

The home team are the clear favourites in the group, although Bermuda should be strong enough to beat the other two sides.

Whether or not Shaun Goater will be fit remains up in the air, although the scheduled tournament dates could work in his favour as he will now have maximum time to recover from the calf injury he suffered against Leeds United on Tuesday night.

The Digicel Cup is being 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.