FLORENCE HALL, Trelawny — Work to get the field at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium ready for the start of the CONCACAF Under-17 finals in just over a month could be affected if money is not released soon by the Ministry of Sports.

It will cost approximately $3million to resurface the football field and get it in world-classed condition for the start of the event on February 14 which will qualify four countries for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Mexico later this year.

Work has already started and will continue after the staging of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival set for January 27-29 at the same venue.

Linnell McLean, chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) Western Confederation who is overseeing the preparation, told the Observer on Monday that the money to pay for the services was overdue and could affect the pace of the work.

“The money is badly needed,” he told the Observer.

“The JFF does not have this kind of money right now and we hope the government will release the money and avoid any delays.”

McLean, who is also the president of the Trelawny Football Association, said the completion of the venue was critical and they were hoping the government understood the importance of the two-week event, which was vital to the country in many ways.

“The country will get a lot of mileage from this event and there will be direct and indirect benefits and it is important that we get it right,” he stressed.

Despite the lack of cash, McLean said work was progressing smoothly and predicted that the field would be in the best football condition ever.

He said six loads of sand had been dumped there and rolled into the surface and grass had already started growing back.

The field, he said, was being worked on by the Kingston-based company, Ground Masters, which had also done work on the field at the National Stadium.

The field has been moved closer to the centre of the bowl and parts of it will overlap the cricket pitches, McLean reported, saying that was the request of the television people who had toured the venue earlier.

Games will be played at the Trelawny venue starting on February 14 with the opening double header — Haiti taking on Costa Rica in Group A and Cuba meeting the United States in Group B — and will continue to February 18.

Three matches days in the first round will also be played at the Catherine Hall Mini-stadium, along with all games from the quarter-finals onwards.