Football clubs are fostering violence, according to the vice-president of the Bermuda Football Coaches Association.

Maceo Dill blamed this on an “abusive environment” that had been created at the island’s clubs over the past three decades.

He said that instead of fostering the “development and growth” of children, the organisations had “used their talents to win games and give status to the clubs”.

Mr Dill said that the first step in addressing the situation was for Bermuda to admit that “we have a huge problem” that is “negatively impacting society, clubs, families, football and our future”.

Public forums, he said, should be held to discuss the problem, and Bermuda should look at how the violence that had surrounded football in Britain had been cleaned up.

Mr Dill said the responsibility for the problem rested with everyone.

“It’s a Bermudian problem,” he said. “We have all let ourselves down over the years.”

Mr Dill added that drug and alcohol use, and violence went “hand in hand” and that clubs that had youth programmes should not be allowed to hold liquor licences.

“It is already proven they are not responsible with this licence, and alcohol and kids just do not work well together,” he explained.

He would like to see youth football moved into the schools until the clubs decided to “clean up”.

Mr Dill said that cash-strapped clubs should investigate other moneymaking measures so as to not be reliant on bar sales.

Bailey’s Bay Cricket Club, he said, was “perfectly located” to offer a joint daycare, school and cricket programme.

Mr Dill explained: “You have a field for kids to play on, you have Coney Island right there — so many great natural features for the safety of the kids.”

He said such a programme would create jobs, provide a needed service for the community and also generate money for the club.

He added that the “wonderful facilities” of the island’s clubs could provide more for the community “if we move away from our addiction to alcohol”.

Mr Dill was contacted by The Royal Gazette after commenting online on a story about a brawl outside Pembroke Hamilton Club last weekend.

It happened just hours after the Zebras clinched their tenth Premier Division title.

The club said in a message on Twitter last week that its executive had investigated the “unfortunate incident”.

It added: “No PHC players, members or fans were involved.

“Their only involvement can be seen and heard trying to stop this incident from escalating.”

The post added that those responsible had been identified and that “various sanctions will be acted upon as per our constitution”.

It added: “The safety of our players and fans is our highest priority and the PHC executive will provide whatever measures to prevent this occurring again.”

Ben Smith, the Shadow Minister of Sport and Youth Development, said the incident was “an unfortunate way for the night to end when the club was celebrating the hard work on the field”.

Mr Smith said Bermuda had become accustomed to violent behaviour and that there was an unresolved issue with anger management.

He added: “The sports clubs are a place that people congregate, which means the chances of altercations increases, but it is not because of the club — it is because a segment of our people resorts to violence in disputes.

“When we are trying to inspire and encourage our young people to be healthy and strong citizens, we should do all that we can to ensure that the environment we are attracting them to is safe and doesn’t show them that we encourage the drug life.”

Mr Smith said that alcohol was sold at sports clubs around the world.

“We must be careful that we don’t overregulate and penalise the masses because of a few bad apples,” he said.

Mark Wade, the president of the Bermuda Football Association, declined to comment on a number of questions.

Mr Wade said: “Depending on the context of the article, I will reserve the right to publish responses to your questions via other outlets, including other media establishments, BFA website, social media platforms, etc.”

Michael Weeks, the Minister of Social Development and Sport, had not responded to questions by press time yesterday.