In a show of solidarity for banned team-mate Raymond Beach, five Devonshire Cougars players called up for national team duty are considering boycotting next month?s friendly matches against the Jamaican Under-23 team and US Major League Soccer (MLS) Eastern Conference champions New England Revolution.

Joshua Butterfield, Ricky Brangman jr, Kwame Steede, Aljame Zuill and current MVP Domico Coddington have all been included on national coach Kyle Lightbourne?s initial list of 30 players that was due to go before Bermuda Football Association?s (BFA) technical committee at a special meeting last night.

However, understands the five players are contemplating taking action against a three-year Bermuda Council for Drug Free Sport (BCDS) ban imposed on Beach for refusing to show up for a third mandatory drug test after a first sample was deemed ?invalid? on the eve of Brazilian side Santos? tour of the Island last January.

?We are not going to impose our will upon the players but we have asked them to withdraw their services from the national team as a show of solidarity towards their team-mate,? Devonshire Recreation Club secretary Ellsworth Christopher told .

?Obviously this is something the players themselves would have to consider.?

BCDS officials claim Beach disposed of a second sample and associated paperwork after being told he would not be eligible to play ? actions later interpreted as an infraction.

It was the second time the prolific striker had contravened BCDS regulations, having previously done so in 1998 as a teenager.

Beach?s case has remained in the hands of the Ministry of Sports Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) arbitration panel since last June.

When contacted yesterday, coach Lightbourne said: ?Obviously Devonshire Cougars players have been selected to train with the squad and so we will have to see what happens.

?At the moment I haven?t heard of any protest and so I will have to speak to the players first and then go from there.?

Asked whether a boycott would hinder his plans, Lightbourne replied: ?Who knows? Maybe. But this could also be a blessing in disguise.?

The national team kick off preparations for a February 18 clash against the Revs and a February 28 match against Jamaica?s Under-23 national squad at the National Sports Centre this evening at BAA Field where a team meeting and training session has been scheduled.

Jamaica previously toured Bermuda in December, 2002 while the Revs toured the Island last February when coach ? former Liverpool utility player Steve Nichol ? first spotted the talents of Dandy Town striker Khano Smith.

Smith and his New England team-mates arrive in Bermuda on February 13 with the Jamaicans expected to arrive shortly after, according to organisers Setplay.

It was revealed last week that Beach?s team-mates Omar Butterfield and Heys Wolfe had one year bans overturned after second test samples were deemed ?negative? by Government lab officials after initial BCDS results had tested ?invalid?.

A BCDS claim that Coddington had produced a second sample proved to be incorrect as national coach Lightbourne confirmed the player had never been required to take a second test.

Devonshire officials have maintained their players never signed a BFA waiver subjecting them to take mandatory drugs tests and that BCDS president and BFA executive Jon Beard?s and BCDS vice-president and ADR secretary Helena Rawlins? involvement in the matter constitutes a direct conflict of interest.

BCDS results taken from Coddington?s first sample were also deemed ?invalid? yet he was allowed to play while team-mates Butterfield and Wolfe were immediately banned from all domestic and international football for one year.

It is understood Devonshire officials are planning to meet with Sports Minister Dale Butler over the nearly year-old dispute, and are prepared to take the matter to court.