FLORENCE HALL, Trelawny — Village United’s move to the Trelawny Multi Purpose stadium where they will play their Digicel Premier League home games has been stalled for at least one week as the West Indies Cricket Board Limited Overs President’s Cup is being played there.

The management of Village United had hoped to start playing home games at the stadium starting today against Sporting Central Academy, but has being told to wait until the cricket tournament is completed.

The venue that was built to accommodate the Opening Ceremony and practice games for the ICC World Cup 2007 has hosted one football game, Jamaica vs the Bahamas in a World Cup Qualifier.

The bone of contention with Village United’s use of the venue is the proximity of the football field to the southern edge of the cricket pitch and the bowler’s run up.

Cecil Warren, a director of Independence Park Limited (IPL), operators of the facilities, told the Observer on Friday that the decision was taken primarily due to the heavy rains lately and the potential for damage to the pitch and the bowler’s run up.

He said the delay is temporary and would be for this round only and the football club would be allowed to use it as of next weekend.

The decision to delay Village’s use of the facility has not gone over well and technical manager Marvin Tate was hopping mad at the delay.

He told the Observer they had got permission to use the venue from the IPL and it was only on Friday when they went there to make last minute checks that they were told they would not be able to use the facilities today.

Tate, who started the season as Village’s head coach, is adamant that the football field would not encroach on the cricket pitch and both games can co-exist.

He told the Observer they had done work on the field to get it ready for the games and said even if it rained the underfoot conditions would not be so badly affected that it would damage the run up or the pitch.