TALLINN (AFP) - Dozens of Estonia fans were Wednesday scrambling to clear snow from the Baltic country's national football stadium, amid fears that a friendly against Canada could be cancelled.

With Tallinn hit by unexpectedly heavy snow as the national team prepared to face the Canadians, the Estonian Football Association had late Tuesday urged fans to come and help clear the A. Le Coq Arena.

"Around 40 fans have been clearing the stadium since this morning. Many more have already offered to help. But we did not foresee yesterday that the heavy snow would last until Wednesday," association spokesman Mihkel Uiboleht told AFP.

With kick-off due at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT), the game remained in doubt, he said.

Besides threatening the football, the snowstorm also blocked the rest of Tallinn, where municipal workers were working flat out to clear roads.

Elsewhere the storm, which had begun late Tuesday, also halted ferry traffic between the Estonian mainland and its Baltic Sea islands.

According to the Estonian Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology, the heaviest snow was in the southern town of Valga, where 21 centimetres (eight inches) fell overnight.

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