Eastbourne Eagles' clash with Elite League leaders Poole Pirates at Arlington Stadium on Saturday could be scuppered by a big international row.

The British Speedway Promoters' Association are on a collision course with the world championship governing body after the Scandinavian Grand Prix was called off because of the dangerous state of the specially laid track at Gothenburg's Ullevi Stadium.

The FIM have rescheduled the meeting for next weekend, which would decimate the British racing programme, including the Eastbourne versus Poole match.

Half a dozen Grand Prix riders, including the top two in the world championship title race, Eastbourne's Nicki Pedersen and defending champion Tony Rickardsson, of Poole, are due to ride at Arlington.

Mark Loram, of Eastbourne, plus three more Poole riders, world No. 3 Leigh Adams, Bjarne Pedersen and David Ruud, as well as Peter Ljung, another member of the Eastbourne squad, are also in the Grand Prix line-up in Sweden.

Eastbourne boss Jon Cook said: "The BSPA are likely to mount a legal challenge to the Grand Prix meeting. I would say at this stage there are a few laps to be run in the courts before this matter is decided."

At the moment, added Cook, the match against Poole was still on, but he said: "We will not run the meeting without the Grand Prix riders."

Oxford promoter Nigel Wagstaff, whose team are due to ride against Poole on Friday, said: "This will raise serious question marks over the future of Grand Prix riders in British racing."

Saturday's meeting in Sweden was abandoned after three races. A spokesman admitted mistakes had been made in preparing the track.

On the decision to call off the Grand Prix, John Postlethwaite said: "From a racing point of view, it was the only decision we could make. It was not fair to decide a world championship on a track like we had tonight."

Eastbourne went to the top of their British League Cup group and will now meet either Belle Vue or Sheffield in the quarter-finals after they crushed Reading 60-30 at Arlington yesterday.

Joonas Kylmakorpi was the star turn with a 15-point maximum, providing the best moments of an instantly forgettable match when he twice pipped Scott Smith coming off the last bend.

Former Eagle Brent Werner scored 14 of Reading's points, which included wins over Dean Barker and Ulrich Ostergaard.

One bright spot for the fans was the display of Ostergaard, whose combative style looks ideally suited to British speedway, while any Eastbourne talent scouts watching must have noted the display of 16-year-old Steve Boxall on the visitors' side.

David Norris was unbeaten in three races before pulling out of the meeting feeling unwell, while the best of Barker's three wins was a last-to-first effort which exacted revenge on Werner for his one defeat.

Eastbourne: Joonas Kylmakorpi 15, Dean Barker 11, David Norris 9, Glenn Cunningham 7, Ulrich Ostergaard 7, Joel Parsons 6, Matt Read 5. Bonus points: Read 3, Cunningham 2, Ostergaard 2, Parsons 1.

Reading: Brent Werner 14, Scott Smith 7, Adam Allott 4, Steve Boxall 3, Paul Clews 1, Jonas Davidsson 1. Bonus points: Werner 1, Smith 1.