Bermuda Referees' Association (BRA) president Anthony Francis has accused North Village assistant coach Clyde Best of sour grapes over his team's September 22 Martonmere Cup loss to Dandy Town.

In the wake of Village's 3-1 cup loss to Hornets, former West Ham striker and Bermuda Sports Hall of Famer Best described the current level of officiating on the Island as "terrible".

But in response to Best's criticism yesterday, Francis dismissed Best's claims and accused him of trying to use match officials as scapegoats for his team's disappointing showing against Town.

"I take offence to Mr. Best describing the standard of refereeing as low because had Village won the match he probably wouldn't have made those comments at all," he said.

"I believe his team did not play to the level he expected and because they didn't he has sour grapes. But that's not our fault, referees do not win or lose games - they officiate. Goals win games and if you cannot put the ball in the net then you can't blame the referee."

Francis said in recent years his association had sanctioned numerous initiatives geared towards raising overall standards, with BRA members having also officiated at high levels abroad.

"In an attempt to improve the standard of officiating the BRA, in conjunction with Bermuda Football Association (BFA), have tried to recruit additional members to our ranks," he added.

"We are endeavouring to ensure the standard of our refereeing is as high, if not, as higher than some of our international counterparts. And right now the refereeing in Bermuda is at a higher standard than it has been in a while.

"Maybe Mr. Best would like to send some of his players to some of our referee courses, which we would greatly appreciate."

Last week Best urged local football's governing body to set aside Government funding "to train our referees to a higher standard because they need to get better".

"Watching North Village go down to Dandy Town was a case in point," he argued in his weekly Mid-Ocean News column. "The standard of officiating is terrible and it needs to get better."