THE brawl at BAA Field last Saturday night might have reflected badly on local soccer, coming as it did right at the beginning of a new season.

Yet Bermuda Football Association secretary David Sabir was quite correct in his assessment that what occurred behind the goal and ultimately on the pitch during that evening's Martonmere Cup match had little to do with football.

Certainly those involved in the fracas weren't genuine fans. More likely they entered the ground with no intention of watching the game, instead hell-bent on causing trouble.

If we're to believe some reports, a group of disgruntled youths had plotted a revenge attack on an individual who they believed, rightly as it turned out, would be among Saturday's crowd.

Quite possibly, given the history of these types of incidents, drugs were at the centre of the dispute.

Much to their discredit, other spectators then became involved, the match was held up, Police called and one person ended up in hospital.

All in all, an ugly start to the new campaign.

But football can't shoulder all of the blame. It was the type of incident that might have occurred at any public gathering.

Too often sport, football in particular, becomes a scapegoat for societal problems.

As Sabir pointed out, the governing body are just as concerned about that kind of violence as anybody else. And in fairness they have taken steps in recent seasons to stamp out this kind of behaviour.

In many ways, they've done more than other organisations to ensure that outbreaks of violence are kept to a minimum. Security has been increased, culprits who have been identified have been banned from either playing or attending matches, and this week BFA president Larry Mussenden vowed to ban from all grounds for life those who are known to have played a part in Saturday's ruckus.

The next step, given the seriousness of the weekend events, may have to be the installation of surveillance cameras, as suggested by Sabir, in order that the thugs can be readily weeded out.

And he's right when he says as the Island's national sport, football shouldn't have to foot the entire bill.

Government will have to play their part as will other segments of the community.

It's fine for Sports Minister Randy Horton to proclaim that "such behaviour won't be tolerated" but it's up to his ministry to step forward and help find some tangible solutions.

And for their part, sponsors could probably provide no greater service at this time than plough some of their funds into areas which will help minimise violence and make the game far more enjoyable for all those concerned.

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IT WASN'T that long ago that the Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon and the Corporate Road Relay were two of the most popular events on the local athletic calendar.

Entries close to or even in excess of 100 teams were not uncommon for both.

That's no longer the case, particularly for the relay which has seen, for a myriad of reasons, entries plummet.

And this weekend, there's little chance that either will see an increase in participation, given that both races have been scheduled for the same time Sunday morning.

How ridiculous is that?

Ordinarily, many of the same swimmers, cyclists and runners who make up the team triathlon would also compete in the road relay.

This weekend they'll be forced to make a choice and without a doubt the Corporate relay will come off second best. In fact, the lack of interest will likely force postponement.

While the governing bodies of triathlon and road running have their own agendas, surely for the sake of both sports some compromise could have been reached to avoid such an absurd clash.

- ADRIAN ROBSON