Dear Sir,

Let me begin by expressing my utter disgust at the venom spewed on Monday's 'People Show' primarily by host Everest DaCosta who appeared to take a sort of devilish delight in disparaging Bermuda cricket captain Irving Romaine and our national team for their disappointing performance in the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa.

Drum beater DaCosta seemed intent on not only working up listeners into a delirium of savagery but his callers into a crazed frenzy directed against our national side. His lips dripped with negativity as he read the columns posted by Martin Williamson and Will Luke on Cricinfo, two writers who by the way seldom have anything positive to say about Bermuda cricket.

Shame on you Mr. DaCosta!

Like most Bermudians I was disappointed that we didn't qualify for the World Cup or retain our one-day status. However, I refuse to castigate the team because I recognise that those now being fingered as the main culprits for this failure are the same players who four years ago were being hailed as heroes for ensuring that we reached the World Cup finals and attained one-day status in the first place.

While there was a clear lack of commitment, discipline and desire in some quarters, I fail to see what 'crying over spilled milk' will accomplish at this point.

The team as a whole have to accept responsibility and by this I mean the players and the coach. Gus Logie prepared the side for this tournament and he too must shoulder some of the blame for what went wrong.

I can point to three obvious mistakes that he made:

1 A failure to provide the team with competitive opponents during the tour of the West Indies. I had three former Bermuda internationals tell me when I pointed out how well we were doing on that tour that we were not playing anybody, that the teams we played were weak and this was providing us with a false sense of security. One even questioned why Barbados was not on the itinerary!

2 The decision to place David Hemp in the middle order when he joined the Bermuda team. One of the main reasons that we qualified in Ireland in 2005 was because the middle order batsmen made up of Janeiro (Tucker), Dean (Minors) and Lionel (Cann) delivered. When Hemp came into the side Logie immediately broke up a middle order that was working by making Dean an opener and replacing him with Hemp. He continued this policy until very recently despite pleas by many of us to push Hemp up the order.

3 The failure to select Fiqre Crockwell who had proved he was in good form with the bat during the tour of the West Indies with a starting place in the team from the 'get-go'.

But enough of the negativity, unlike most I believe the future of Bermuda cricket is bright and that the best is yet to come.

We possess cricketers who if properly guided can not only conquer the Americas region but bounce right back in four years time and ensure we play with the 'big boys' again.

I speak of cricketers such as Stephen Outerbridge, Rodney Trott, Tamari Tucker, Kyle Hodsoll, Chris Douglas, Malachi Jones, OJ Pitcher, Delyone Borden, Jordan DeSilva, Jekon Edness, Stefan Kelly, Gregory Maybury and others.

So where do we go from here?

I would suggest the following:

1 A thorough review is conducted of the coach's, manager's and captain's report of what went wrong at the World Cup Qualifiers.

2 A committee is put into place as to chart a course for the senior national team over the next four years.

3 We retain a few of the senior players who have set the right example and can help bring the youngsters along such as David Hemp.

4 We renew Gus Logie's contract for a two-year period with the possibility of an extension provided the team achieve clearly defined goals over that period of time.

RECMAN

FAO: Bermuda Football Association

CC: R Calderon, D Sabir, –D Broadley.

Dear Sirs,

It has recently come to the PFA's attention that a serious violation of FIFA's rules, etiquette and code of coduct has been appropriated by the above, and other members of the Bermuda Football Association's Executive Council, in their role as officials within Bermuda's membership of FIFA under the Confederation of CONCACAF.

Notwithstanding FIFA's rules and BFA's primary objective as stated, being "to encourage the game of football in Bermuda as determined by the Statutes of FIFA," there has clearly been a divergence and shift from these aims with the recent cancellation of the Commercial League, and the methods employed therein to ensure that there is no longer any place in Bermuda's football for the so-called 'pub footballer' other than in the Sunday Breakfast League.

The second objective of the BFA is "to promote the game of football in every way in which the Association shall think proper..." and to that end it must be asked why the BFA now think it proper to single out these "selfish Commercial League players", and ostracize them from competitive football?

On February 9th 2007 the BFA set out their vision and key components of a comprehensive $36m plan as detailed in The Royal Gazette:

"The Association intend to increase overall participation, remain fully compliant in all respects with FIFA and ensure players AT ALL LEVELS achieve their full potential.

"Our aim is to satisfy the strategic objectives of the entire plan because football is not only a sport, but also a vehicle through which every Bermudian can embrace healthy lifestyles, education and social tolerance."

Well voiced, Mr Sabir!

"This plan is critical in order to guarantee that the power of football will help in the process of building and maintaining a better Bermuda and all of these elements are critically important in order for the BFA to continue to service the population of Bermuda through football.

"There are presently 4,395 overall registered footballers that participate in over 2500 matches which provides three million hours of football action in Bermuda annually."

Not anymore!

Returning to 2009 and the recently announced restructuring of football, much of which should be praised for the development of youth football, there is clearly come misinformation arising as per the BFA's own website.

Despite the fact that as officials of FIFA (defined in Article 2 of the Code of Ethics) who under the Basic rules (Article 3) commit to "respect the sanctity of their allegiance to FIFA , the confederations, associations, leagues and clubs," the Commerical League was disbanded without recourse to those involved. Accordingly, officials may also not act in a discriminatory manner as per Article 3 of the Statutes, and Article 6 of the Code of Conduct, and should be reminded that, "only those persons who demonstrate a high degree of ethics and integrity, and pledge to observe the provisions of this Code without reservation are eligable to serve as officials (Article 8)."

And, "during the course of their activities, officials shall ensure that the personal rights of those persons whom they contact and with whom they deal are protected, respected, and safeguarded (Article 9)."

Whilst it may not be any park footballer's given right to play football and expect to get a game at their gifted level in any place across the world, most countries are actively promoting well-being through sport as an antidote to the modern day ills. It appears that here in Bermuda the BFA prefer to reduce the availability of football to the masses despite Mr Sabir's earlier commitments above.

Understandably, the BFA in its desire to improve international football and the domestic leagues with the associated youth development have had to make some difficult decisions, albeit most players barring the Committee will tell you that they don't want a Masters League and that it is likely to fail after a year (as in the past when it was previously tested).

However, they have obviously forgotten what football is about at a grass roots level for men, who also have rights to be upheld by the BFA and particularly as they pay dues to that body for the privilege of playing in Bermuda.

As FIFA says, FOR THE GAME, FOR THE WORLD. Their mission to "develop the game, touch the world, build a better future," fits with the BFA's Strategic Plan. Played by millions around the world football is the heart and soul of FIFA as the guardians of the game where they have a great responsibility and the same is true of the BFA in Bermuda who have unfortunately not embraced this same culture in their recent dealings with the Commerical League.

The BFA may have the power to constitute and amend leagues as they see fit within the rules of their own association, but through FIFA and CONCACAF they also have responsibilities to the game of football which have clearly been disregarded in the process of disbanding the Commerical League.

The BFA website, in detailing the BFA President Richard Calderon and General Secretary David Sabir's address to the media regarding the new 2009 Strategic Plan, states: "There are two things that really energised me and made me proud about the process of agreeing the Strategic Plan. First, stakeholders of ALL parts OF THE Bermuda football community accepted our invitation to participate by analysing issues, vetting proposals, sharing their experience, recruiting others to participate and encouraging all of us to reach for the highest standards possible."

So, we only have to ask, who represented the Commerical clubs in these discussions and proposals?

With no votes available to Associate members, and a fait accompli in the resultant decision making process, were the Commerical clubs fairly and ethically treated? Or were they discriminated against in a manner unfitting as per FIFA and BFA rules, the former being the paramount over the latter.

Clearly, we have been kicked around like an old leather ball until finally booted out of the ground into the wilderness. But, park players are nothing if not resilient, the pub players even more so, and thus, rather than arbitrate with the BFA, as is our right of recourse, we will gracefully take our ball back, uphold the laws and practices of the game, promote football in our own intimitable fashion, and continue to play at the leve which befits each and every one of us to our fullest ability. And not just in the Breakfast League!

Yours, for the PFP,

GETT BLADDERED

Chairman

Pub Footballers Association