of poor attendances during last week's Caribbean Cup qualifiers.

David Sabir, general secretary of Bermuda Football Association, was speaking after a disappointing crowd of around 2,000 attended Sunday's decisive clash between Bermuda and Cuba.

Attendances for the Wednesday and Friday night double-headers in the four-nation tournament, which featured Bermuda in action against the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands, were even lower.

Money taken at the gate did not even come close to meeting the cost of hosting the tournament and Sabir's message to soccer fans who did not turn out was clearly a heart-felt plea.

"These programmes cost a lot to put on and football people who say they love football should find something in their soul to make them come and watch,'' said Sabir. "If they don't come through the gates, they make it very difficult for us.'' Costs of accommodation for the visiting teams and officials and transporting them around the Island, Sabir estimated to be in excess of $100,000.

"If the community is telling us through their non-support that we are looking at a base of about 1,000 people to watch our national team, then we will have to seriously consider the future of our international programme,'' added Sabir.

Why did the people of a professed football-loving nation fail to turn out in greater numbers? Sabir suggested the troubles of a domestic season, blighted by violence on the field, physical attacks on officials and teams failing to show for First Division matches, could have been partly to blame.

"I think a number of football fans cannot make the distinction between domestic and international football,'' said Sabir.

"The quality of football and the behaviour of people in international football is better, for whatever reason, it is just a point of fact.

"We are not talking about clubs here, we are talking about these players representing Bermuda and everybody in this country. We have to be proud of them and we have to learn to be supportive of them.'' On this point, he felt Bermuda could learn a lot from the likes of Jamaica, who reached the 1998 World Cup finals in France.

"Jamaica have had domestic problems, but when it comes to the national team, they are one of the proudest countries in the Caribbean region and it shows in their success.'' Despite a 2-1 defeat to a strong Cuban side which denied them qualification for the Caribbean Cup finals, the Bermuda players performed creditably.

They thrashed both the Bahamas and the Caymans and scored 11 goals -- most of them spectacular -- in their three games.

But Sabir said the poor level of support had made the team doubt whether their country was actually behind them.

"The players were excited just to be in this tournament. This was the opportunity they had asked for and waited so long for,'' said Sabir.

"They have all dedicated themselves and have given up so much in terms of family ties and work commitments. But what is disturbing is that these players wondered whether people were genuinely supportive of them.'' Sabir thanked the fans who did show up and the group of sponsors whose support had enabled the tournament to become reality.

And he said the success of the tournament, apart from the attendances, had given a badly-needed boost to Bermuda's football fraternity.

"We are going to push ahead with our six-year international plan, we will keep pushing to clean up our domestic football, to bring our coaches and referees up to a high standard and to keep our sponsors on board,'' he added.

Clyde Best's team will now have to wait until next year for their next competitive matches, which will be Olympic and World Cup qualifiers.

But whether they will get the chance to prepare with match practice against international opposition depends heavily on whether the soccer fans and the big businesses of Bermuda come up with the financial backing to make it viable.

David Sabir: dismayed by last week's poor Caribbean Cup attendances.