Despite a pledge from Government to assist in funding, Bermuda Football Association have not yet made a final decision regarding participation in Olympic qualifying ties.

Bermuda Football Association president Richard Thompson confirmed yesterday that he was still trying to drum up support from local businesses, hoping they would help cover part of the $50,000 needed to play two qualifying games against Costa Rica.

He said a final decision would not be made until the weekend.

Even though the first match -- scheduled for National Stadium on July 29 -- is just 23 days away, Thompson said: "I still think we have some time.'' It is believed that the BFA have approached at least two companies since the meeting with Sports Minister Pam Gordon last Thursday.

It was during that meeting that Government agreed to help, although Gordon refused to say how much money they would give the BFA.

"But the weight of (their) problem was considerably lifted once they left the Ministry,'' said Youth and Sport director Anthony Roberts yesterday.

Still, it remains unclear whether the matches will go ahead as planned.

Costa Rican officials confirmed last week that tickets for the second qualifying leg to be held there on August 6 have already gone on sale.

"We have not made a decision... we are still trying to see what we can do before we make a final decision,'' said Thompson yesterday, referring to last-minute attempts at securing corporate funds.

"We have been in touch with persons, but I would just prefer not to say who I've been talking to. But we have been in touch with people.'' Thompson insisted the BFA is not facing a deadline, although Costa Rica Football Federation spokesman Jorge Zagada said last week he was expecting to get final confirmation last Friday.

"But, of course, you don't leave this decision to the 11th hour,'' said Thompson.

FIFA officials told The Royal Gazette last week that if Bermuda withdrew from the matches, the BFA could face stiff fines of up to $8,000 and could be forced to pick up costs incurred by the Costa Ricans. According to FIFA, the cash penalty increases if games are scuttled at the last moment.

BFA officials first considered withdrawing from the tournament in early June when they received a cold shoulder from business in the wake of the Miami drugs scandal.

When contacted yesterday, former BFA president Charlie Marshall said it would be a mistake for Bermuda not to compete in the Olympic tournament.

He also questioned the original decision to compete, since no budget had obviously been prepared.

"I just find it difficult that people enter competitions without a financial structure in place prior to entering,'' said Marshall. "As far as I'm concerned we're making the same mistakes we made during the World Cup and I say this in a constructive way. If people in the administrative positions make decisions and lead young men astray, whereby they prepare them to participate and then they don't have the financial resources to do it, then I think that is not right.

"It's giving people false expectations of trying to achieve things. I have said for years that the financial planning must be done first. You can get an architect to build your house, but if you don't have the money to do it then why do it?'' The outspoken Marshall, president of the BFA from 1991 until last June, said that the $50,000 the BFA needed to fund the matches "is not that much money in the big scheme of things. My philosophy is that with a population of 50,000 people and less than 2,000 football players, just to participate is a big plus as far as I'm concerned. To qualify or to win or draw a few games is definitely heaven when you look at the big world.'' Later he added: "Bermuda's going through so much turmoil right now, both in the sporting field as well as the country, that it would be a good thing to participate. We need to have something else on our minds besides the unfortunate situation with the drug problem. If we're successful in the Olympics it'll get people's minds on to other, more pleasant things. So it may have some positive aspects.'' Marshall said that local businesses would once again embrace the sport if clubs supported recommendations made by the Sharpe Commission into drugs in soccer.

"They have to make a decision to support the recomendations of the commission,'' he said. "All of what the commision has said has been said many times before. If you look back to the 1980 Sharpe report on violence in soccer, you'll see that the issues are the same and the solutions are the same. But the problem is that the drug issue is a heckuva lot bigger today than it was in those days.

"The clubs must be prepared to do something about it. And you've got to get better quality people in the administrative portions of the national bodies and also at club level. Everybody benefits from that. These clubs keep social order in the community.'' RICHARD THOMPSON -- trying to drum up corporate support for Bermuda's Olympic soccer quest.