Below-par lighting?at the National Stadium has forced the Barbados Football Association (BFA)?to schedule its FIFA?World Cup qualifying match against Trinidad and Tobago for 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
This was revealed by FIFA’s security officer for Barbados, Charles Husbands, yesterday as he briefed the media on guidelines for the match.
“The lighting at the Stadium is not adequate for international football at the moment,” noted Husbands, who is also the BFA’s senior assistant secretary.
He also reminded patrons that no tickets would be sold at the Stadium on the day of the match, in accordance with FIFA regulations.
But he said that tickets could be purchased on that day at the neighbouring Netball Stadium from noon and at Sports &?Games, at the corner of James and Roebuck Street in Bridgetown between 9 a.m. and noon.
Tickets will however go on sale at Sports & Games throughout the entire shopping day from Saturday, as well as on Monday.
Schoolchildren will pay $5, while admission for adults is $20 for the VIP?Stand and $15 for all other stands.
Meanwhile, the Barbados senior footballers have settled in at their hotel after finally getting a flight to Guyana on Tuesday night for the first leg of the home and away group tie at Guyana’s National Stadium in Providence, just outside Georgetown, tomorrow night.
The players were unable to travel on Monday because of Redjet’s cancellation of its flights between Barbados and Guyana on that day due to hydraulic problems with its aircraft.
“We have mature people here who have understood the challenges and risen above them and are looking down the road to do Barbados proud,” manager Frank Gill told NATIONSPORT yesterday evening just before the team were to have their first practice session.
This session was delayed by two hours as Barbados were told that the ground where they were to train was unavailable.
“I won’t call the delay in getting to Guyana a setback as under normal circumstances we would have only arrived today (yesterday). While we were hoping to have done a little more work here by trying to come in early, we used the day (Monday) that we were to travel to have a training session at the National Stadium back home,” Gill said.
“But the guys are positive. The camaraderie is good. All three overseas players (Craig Worrell, Jonathan Nurse and Louis Moss) travelled from Barbados with us,” he added.
Gill also said the match would now be played an hour later at 8 p.m.