Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden has signalled the start of a campaign to push for a national lottery to provide cash for sports and the arts.

And he said Government and big business needed to do more to back football - which along with cricket is the Island's national sport.

He told Hamilton Rotarians that lotteries had worked well across the world and local football needed more financial support.

He said: “It is now time for the Government with its fresh approach to ideas and for the community to consider implementing a national lottery for sports and arts funding.

“It is my information that many years ago the Bermuda Olympic Association had a discussion paper for a lottery defeated in a vote in the House of Assembly.

“However, Bermuda has now changed and such a lottery would benefit sports and arts in this Country.

“There are good examples of the positive developments from lotteries in the United Kingdom and in other Caribbean countries.

“A number of National Governing Sports Bodies support such a lottery and will be lobbying for its introduction.”

He called on Government and corporate sponsors to give more financial backing.

He said: “We also deserve to be supported by the Government, who several years ago designated football and cricket as Bermuda's national sports.

“More importantly, we should be supported by the corporate community, both local and international.”

He said football helped develop young people - some of whom got university scholarships - and brought people together.

And he called for corporate sponsorship of football clubs. He said: “It would be fantastic if the corporate community could partner our football clubs for the good of the game and our community.

“Imagine if our football clubs could each have $1 million pumped into them over five years? People would flock to our clubs and they would flourish and excel to even greater heights.”

He said invitations to newly arrived international companies to meet with the BFA had gone unheeded and in most cases unanswered.

He said the National Sports Centre needed to be completed so athletes can have the facilities to train and international events could be held.

“The Sports Centre needs to have dormitories based at the Centre so that all sports can avoid the huge costs of hotel accommodation and transport for foreign teams.

“Additionally, national sports bodies should be housed if necessary at the Centre or some other central location to achieve overall savings.

“I am staggered that the Chef De Mission of the Bermuda Contingent to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester calls for forward planning for sports development when our sports bodies have been calling out for developmental support for many years, often falling on deaf ears of his own department.”

He said the Trustees of the Sports Centre should cease making National Associations pay to use the Centre for national events.

“That is the greatest insult to national football - to have to pay to use the National Sports Centre to train and to play.

“The concept of having Trustees of the National Sports Centre raise funds to pay for that Centre is not working as evidenced by the lack of funding for completion.

“After all, football is about playing for life's goals.”