Bermuda are on the verge of pulling their Under-23 national soccer team out of the Olympics.

Players and team officials were stunned when Bermuda Football Association informed them of this likelihood during Friday evening's training session at Warwick Academy School field.

The announcement is yet another blow to the beleaguered Under-23 squad, seven players of which were arrested in Miami last December after returning from qualifying matches in Jamaica.

It was announced earlier this year that Bermuda would take on Costa Rica in the first leg of the Olympic qualifying round in Bermuda on July 29 with the away leg scheduled in Costa Rica on August 6. But it now appears the chances of these matches taking place are remote.

Reliable sources within the BFA executive revealed over the weekend that chronic financial problems would leave Bermuda with no alternative but to withdraw from the tournament.

It was just three years ago that the local community was gripped with soccer fever when Bermuda enjoyed its best ever run in the World Cup, reaching the preliminary round.

When asked yesterday about Bermuda's current position in relation to the Olympics, BFA secretary-general David Sabir refused to comment. Both BFA president Richard Thompson and second vice-president Elroy Ratteray were off the Island and unavailable for comment yesterday.

The BFA's financial difficulty is believed to be directly related to the Pan Am Games qualifying rounds when players were arrested on drugs charges in Miami.

The players were later released after entering a plea of `no contest' in a Miami court. But in the aftermath, corporate Bermuda has not provided the same type of sponsorship to the BFA as they did before the Pan Am Games.

In Goverment's recent Board of Inquiry into the drugs scandal, chairman Sir John Sharpe provided many suggestions to clean up the game of soccer, and also recommended that local companies be encouraged to act as sponsors and assist with their resources to strengthen the sport's finances.

But since the Sharpe report also fingered much of the fault of the Miami saga at BFA officials and the players, corporate Bermuda appears to have baulked at any immediate move to become involved in the game, and the BFA have been left in a quandary.

The BFA's coffers are said to be low at the moment despite the fact that they were paid $75,000 for qualifying for the Pan Am Games.

It is understood that much of this money was used up for their tour of Florida prior to the Pan Am Games with a large portion also going towards paying the salaries of players forced to take unpaid time off work.

In addition to lack of funds for the Olympic competition, the BFA are also reportedly concerned about the problems players are encountering from their employers as regards getting time off work for the matches against Costa Rica.

Sources claimed that while the atmosphere was calm when the BFA met with players and team officials for the update on Friday, some were clearly upset and felt "cheated''.

For that particular session national coach Mark Trott had obtained the services of West Ham coach Frank Lampard to supervise the training.

The BFA are expected to announce their final plans during a press conference this week. Meantime, the team is expected to continue training as scheduled.

John Hoskins, secretary general of the Bermuda Olympic Association, said yesterday he had not heard anything about the latest plight of the Under-23 team.

He confirmed that the BOA were not involved, stating it was strictly a matter between the BFA and FIFA. Neither were the BOA involved with finances at this stage.