With no time to spare, the Bermuda Football Association finally made the decision on Wednesday night to compete in the Olympic qualifying tie against Costa Rica.

The first game is scheduled for National Stadium in just eight days -- next Saturday at 8.30 p.m. -- with the Costa Rican squad expected to arrive on the Island next Tuesday.

BFA president Richard Thompson confirmed that the matches would proceed -- the game in Costa Rica takes place on August 6 -- although no formal announcement was planned until a media conference, perhaps in the next few days.

"We will be doing a press conference... when I can't say at this time,'' said Thompson yesterday. "That's all I can say at this point.'' Thompson is then expected to ask the public for support since an estimated $20,000 is still required to make up the $60,000 needed for Bermuda to compete in the matches.

"We're hoping the public will support the fixture, of course,'' said Thompson. "We would like for the public to support us, certainly. We would like to attract as many people as possible.'' Thompson has been unable to generate enthusiastic support from the corporate sector although, sources confirm, $15,000 has been raised from local businesses during the past few weeks. It is not known who the sponsors are.

"I don't want to go into any details with money,'' said Thompson. "We'll have to raise money, that's obvious.'' The embattled president would not divulge exact figures although sources within the BFA said that besides the $15,000 raised from the corporate sector an additional $15,000-$20,000 has been promised from Government.

Youth and Sport director Anthony Roberts, however, would not say how much money Government have pledged.

When informed by The Royal Gazette that the games would be played, Roberts said: "Excellent, have they made an announcement?'' When told of the $15,000-$20,000 figure, he added: "We've given them certain conditions, outlining those conditions.'' Later, when asked if Government would cover a shortfall, Roberts said: "The Minister gave them certain assurances that pending their meeting ...

Government would stand behind them.

"Indeed, as soon as they make their release we've got a release here ready to go in support of the Olympic effort. I'm going to call (Thompson) now, I was of the understanding that they were going to make a release today.'' If Government does provide $15,000 to $20,000 that would still leave a cash shortfall of at least $25,000 which will have to be raised from the public, with most of the money coming from gate receipts.

Thompson said tickets for the match would be $10 each.

"We always felt that we should go ahead with this committment,'' said Thompson.

The decision ends more than five weeks of confusion surrounding the Olympic matches and the Under-23 squad. Players and officials recently expressed anger that the BFA were dragging their feet on making the final decision.

Yesterday, coach Mark Trott expressed relief that the games would go ahead.

"Although there was never anything official about us pulling out, it's definitely good news,'' said Trott yesterday. "The players will be very happy to hear about this. The team trained very hard on Wednesday night and we'll be very enthusiastic about the challenge ahead of us.'' Still, it remains to be seen how the month-long uncertainty will affect the squad.

Trott said the team would train again tomorrow and perhaps on Sunday morning and then every night next week.

The Costa Ricans have been training regularly during the past few months and playing matches against top sides.

Thompson indicated several weeks ago that he would make an announcement within days on whether Bermuda would compete.

A source who was at the meeting said the BFA executive felt they had no other alternative but to play the matches since the first game was only a week away.

"It was just too late to pull out,'' the source said.

Bermuda's late withdrawal would have resulted in heavy fines meted out by FIFA, soccer's governing body.

The BFA's annual general meeting will take place at the end of the month and it remains to be seen whether there will be a challenge to Thompson's leadership, although an election of officers is not part of meeting's agenda.

However, The Royal Gazette understands that certain club representatives have lost faith in Thompson and are planning to step down from the committee.