Bermuda is not in it to win it when it comes to the World Cup, the Island's football chiefs have unsurprisingly declared.

But not only has the nation not got its eye on the prize, it does not even believe it has a chance of getting an invite, never mind making it to the party.

However, don't let that attitude be interpreted as defeatist, says Bermuda Football Association General Secretary David Sabir, for there are many other things that can be gained from setting out on the road to Germany 2006 other than winning.

As a member of FIFA, world soccer's governing body, Bermuda has signed up for the biggest competition the game has to offer and will take part in the regional qualifiers which are scheduled to begin in January.

However, Sabir told a press conference at the BFA's Cedar Avenue headquarters yesterday that “we have redirected the focus of our participation away from trying to qualify”.

“We realise and accept that we do not have the financial and player resources available to our team in comparison to the larger nations in our region namely (the) USA, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, and the list goes on,” he said.

“We are participating for the following reason: As a primary objective, we will continue to provide international experiences for our players in order that they can represent their country with pride, whilst at the same time striving to make Bermuda one of the top football nations in the Caribbean region.

“We see this as an ongoing process and will not not be affected by our participation and elimination from the World Cup qualifying tournament.”

Sabir said because Bermuda lacked the financial muscle, competitions such as this gave players “meaningful and valuable football experiences for our senior players and coaches”.

“Thirdly, we will take every opportunity to expose our players internationally, with one goal being to provide educational opportunities to universities overseas,” Sabir said. “It is important for us to reinforce (to) our players the opportunities that are available to them and (that) representing your country internationally is an advantage over those who have not had that privilege.”

Sabir said it had to be “recognised and accepted that we do not have the luxury of preparing for international competitions on a year-round basis”.

“Therefore, we should not be expected to challenge for top honours,” he said. “To sit here before you and try to convince the Bermuda public otherwise is being unrealistic at best and dishonest at worst.

“However, the BFA will continue to ask the corporate community and all football-lovers to rally behind our cause for increased international activity because the investment in our players will be worth it in the long-term, especially if more and more of our players get the opportunities to attend university and improve upon their quality of lives as a result of representing Bermuda internationally.”

Sabir said everyone wanted success, but people had to be realistic.

“We all have a high expectation because we remember the past,” he said. “But the future, we have not caught up with. And as we keep moving the bar is being raised by the other countries around our region.

“The USA keep moving forward, Mexico keep moving forward, Costa Rica has joined our group, Honduras, Guatemala, Canada, they have all moved forward. Player development at very young ages, international opportunities on a consistent basis and they are competing regularly at the highest level, the country totally behind it, and we don't have that.”

Plans were being drawn up in readiness for the qualifiers, each of which will set the BFA back in the region of $30,000, Sabir said.

“The technical committee is behind the scenes doing the necessary work to get the players involved,” he said. “The season is starting and so there are a lot of things that have to take place to ensure there is a smooth transition from club football to the national team programme and then onto the qualifiers.

“In December, once again, we are planning to bring in a tour that will afford some preparatory matches for our clubs and our national team. We are not sitting idle.”