drugs testing policy which could impact on all of the Island's footballers.

General secretary David Sabir said the policy would first have to be presented to the executive committee before being officially adopted.

"The BFA is completing a formal policy on drugs testing and a significant component will be confidentiality,'' said Sabir. "It will be presented to the executive committee soon.'' Referring to the incident involving Under-23 player Raynel Lightbourne who was booted off the Pan-Am Games squad this week after allegedly refusing to take a Bermuda Olympic Association drugs test last Saturday, Sabir added: "I hope some lessons have been learned when we institute our policy.'' Sabir, like Devonshire Colts president Nelson Bascome, said he was concerned that Lightbourne's name had leaked out.

"We do have some concerns about the (BOA) method of testing. In random testing, names are normally pulled out of a hat.

"Apparently in this (Lightbourne's) case they may have been pre-selected by the BOA, perhaps singled out at their meeting.

"It would have been very difficult to keep any name confidential knowing that if they tested positive they would be withdrawn from the squad.'' However, Sabir also had some strong words for Bascome, who in yesterday's Royal Gazette partially blamed the BFA for the Lightbourne leak.

Bascome had said: "The BFA needs to be slapped on the wrist. Now we know that an individual's name can be leaked whether the test is negative or positive.

That's unfair, and it's dangerous.

"Too much of this kind of thing is going on within the BFA.'' But Sabir insisted the BFA played no part in last Saturday's testing.

"The BFA want to make it clear we had absolutely nothing to do with the testing of any of the athletes,'' he said. "We did not even know the test was going to be held at that time.

"The BOA notified us that random testing for the Pan-Am Games would take place at some time. But we didn't know when or where.'' The family of Blenn Bean, a key player in Bermuda's Under-23 qualifying Pan-Am matches, stressed yesterday that he had not been dropped from the squad to travel to Argentina but had voluntarily withdrawn. Bean has important examinations at Warwick Secondary School during the time the team will be in South America.