Bermuda Football Association (BFA) would not confirm or deny yesterday fresh claims that teenaged prodigy Reggie Lambe had been banned from international football until the end of this month for an alleged incident that occured in Dallas earlier this year.

The Royal Gazette can, however, confirm that the Ipswich Town academy player had some form of punishment imposed against him for an incident alleged to have taken place at the hotel where the Island's Under-15 national team stayed last April after returning from playing in the annual Dallas Cup.

It is also understood Lambe's former Under-15 team-mates Dante Smith and Tahj Bell were also penalised for a separate incident that also took place at the team's hotel in Dallas.

BFA technical committee chairman Mark Trott, who declined to speak at length on the matter, commented: "We dealt with Mr. Lambe and put him on probation but I am not trying to make a big issue out of something that has already been dealt with.

"That (matter) was dealt with right after we returned (in May) from the Dallas Cup and we can't continuously go around dealing with people who have already been dealt with. They were all put on probation and nobody was dealt with unfairly." Trott said the trio were all put on probation. However, correspondence sent out on behalf of the association by BFA general secretary David Sabir to one of the players who had sanctions imposed against him clearly indicates the player had been suspended from international football until the end of this year, put on probation for the entire 2007/08 football season and ordered to do community service.

When queried over the players' punishment yesterday, Under-15 national coach Troy Harvey, replied: "I didn't have any involvement in any suspension of players."

Alleged incidents that took place in Dallas last April surfaced after it was learned that Lambe had returned from England to train with the senior national squad ahead of international friendlies against visiting St. Kitts and Nevis at the National Sports Centre (NSC) tomorrow night and Sunday.

Earlier this year the promising 16-year-old midfielder had been invited to train with Bermuda's Under-23 squad for the Island Games in Rhodes Greece but, according to one team official, did not make the trip because he had been deemed "ineligible" to play.

Lambe also did not take part in last September's Olympic qualifiers in Cuba although it is understood that on that ocassion the former Dandy Town youth player was ruled out through injury, team officials said.