Hurricane Fabian has caused postponement of the visit by top FIFA and United States Soccer Federation referee lecturer, Alfred Kleinaitis, who was to stage a series of courses on the Island.

But plans are afoot to stage the event in a month's time.

Aldwin Savery, chairman of Bermuda Football Association's Referees' committee, said it was upsetting that the visit could not go ahead as scheduled as it had been aimed at bolstering their current recruiting drive.

According to Savery, tentative plans are to reschedule it for October 18-24 at a venue to be confirmed. Originally it was to have taken place at CedarBridge.

"It was very disappointing because it would have helped jump start our recruiting drive. It was very important for us to stage it before the start of any soccer," said Savery.

"In fact, things were looking positive, we had a few new people who had called to express an interest in participating. We have promised Bermuda Referees' Association that we are not going to put anybody out on the field unless they have some participation in the lectures."

He added that Bermuda was fortunate to have somebody as talented as Kleinaitis available to assist in the upgrading of the local referee programme.

Kleinaitis has been a member of FIFA's Panel of Referees' Instructors for two years and has previously conducted lectures and clinics on the Island.

He is a long-serving official of the United States Soccer Federation and currently holds the post of Manager of Referee Development and Education.

Additionally, he has headed the instructional programme of the national programme for referees' development in the USA since 1990, being a volunteer director for six years before becoming a full-time paid employee in 1997. He is also a qualified soccer coach.