Bermuda’s rugby teams have been forced to withdraw from next month’s North American and Caribbean Rugby Association Sevens tournament because of an issue with player eligibility.

In a statement issued this morning, the Bermuda Rugby Football Union said it was forced to pull out because of IOC regulations regarding who can represent the country internationally.

“Historically World Rugby had a three year residency requirement for national representation,” the statement said. “With the return of rugby as an Olympic Sport, World Rugby eligibility rules have been altered to bring them in line with IOC rules in time for the Summer Olympics in Rio 2016.

“This is a change, as qualifying tournaments for Commonwealth, CAC and PAN-AM Games were open to any player who met World Rugby’s eligibility criteria which were not dependent on which passport they held. World Rugby’s Eligibility Policy, dated July 2014, stipulates that National team athletes must possess passports issued by the participating nation.

“It means that Bermuda national team rugby players must possess British Overseas Territory (Bermudian) Passports issued by the Government of Bermuda. Bermudians in possession of British Passports issued in the UK are not eligible.

“Bermuda has players who have proudly represented Bermuda with passports from Ireland, United States, Jamaica, Barbados, Japan, Canada and the UK. The vast majority of those players also possess Bermudian status. However they are now not eligible unless they are in possession of British Overseas Territory (Bermudian) Passport issued by the Government of Bermuda.

“The BRFU have been negotiating with NACRA re the timing of the stringent implementation of policy as it provided no room for emergency application and issuing of proper passports and selection and training of players who meet the new requirements. The position taken by BRFU is that it is manifestly unfair to the men and women who have dedicated the last 12 months of training to be told at the eleventh hour they cannot participate; especially when the new criteria was known 12 months ago but not shared.”

As a result of this ruling the BRFU had to withdraw from both NACRA tournaments due to lack of a players to make up viable teams. St Vincent and the British Virgin Islands have also confirmed their withdrawal from the NACRA tournament stating eligibility issues.

Sean Field-Lament, the BRFU president, said: “It goes without saying how disappointed we are about this development. We pulled out due to the late notification of eligibility requirements, which is not in line with previous tournaments. The ramifications of eligibility to Bermuda and other smaller amateur Unions within NACRA, and indeed around the World is huge.

“Given advanced warning, we could have selected alternative players and taken the necessary steps to acquire the appropriately issued passports for several of our players. You can understand our deep frustration. Contingencies plans are in place to recoup some of the finical losses. The men’s national team are now entered in the Monmouth 7s on June 20th, and will also be competing at the Serevi 7s in Glendale in August. The women’s team is looking at a Sevens tournament in Calgary on 3rd and 4th July. We will put this disappointment behind us and move on”.