matches prior to the start of the competition in the United States are beginning to fade.

The Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Norway were among a few countries invited by the Bermuda Football Association to use the Island as a pre-tournament base for training and playing a match or two against local teams. BFA president Charlie Marshall, however, is becoming less optimistic as time goes by.

"To be honest the later it gets the less likely it is that we're going to get any of the countries to come here. As it is right now, things appear to be in limbo,'' said Marshall.

With the official representing those countries currently in the United States on related World Cup business, talks about the prospects of having teams visit the Island have been temporarily shelved.

"As each week goes by the prospects of getting any country here is looking less and less likely for sure,'' said Marshall.

"We are still hopeful, but it isn't looking as good as it once was. However, with so much bad weather continuing to affect the United States, the Bermuda invitation may still appear attractive, who knows,'' said the president.

The BFA have revealed their intention to tighten up the rules regarding transfers.

Marshall said that for some unknown reason the laws governing transfers have never been fully enforced. Therefore, players have been allowed to transfer from club to club whenever they wished. But this will now change.

"Players will now have to register for a three-year period and not be allowed to transfer during that time. Somehow the BFA were not enforcing the rule,'' said the president.

"We have advised the affiliates that we would be adhering to the rule and, in the meantime, have set up a committee headed by first vice president Richard Thompson to review the whole set of rules concerning transfers.'' Marshall said that if soccer was to be taken to a higher level in Bermuda, it was vital for players to spend a longer period with their respective clubs to make that goal possible.

He explained that with several hundred players transferring each year, it made it impossible for the programmes at the clubs to prosper.

"We must keep the stability in both the First and Second Divisions in order to help the teams progress. The constant loss of players through the transfer market simply makes it impossible to gain any stability,'' he said.