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BFA summon Cougars pair after Bermuda game incident

Devonshire Cougars? strike pair Raymond Beach and Heys Wolfe have landed themselves in hot water with Bermuda Football Association.

The prolific goalscorers ? both netted hat-tricks in Sunday?s 7-1 walloping of Somerset Eagles ? are set to face a BFA disciplinary hearing following their involvement in an off-field incident during Trinidad and Tobago?s match against Bermuda at the National Sports Centre last Thursday.

According to eye-witness accounts, Beach ? last season?s Most Valuable Player and top scorer ? along with Wolfe verbally abused senior national coach Kenny Thompson from the grandstand before attempting to get onto the pitch.

The pair reportedly tried to approach the Bermuda bench after their Cougars team-mate Domico Coddington had been substituted in the second half of Thursday?s 2-2 draw.

Senior BFA official Gregory Grimes intercepted the two players, neither of whom are members of the national squad, and the incident was later reported to the Association.

Beach and Wolfe must now face the music at a disciplinary hearing.

?The report has been forwarded to the association and the BFA will appoint a committee to look into the circumstances,? confirmed Grimes, who escorted the players from the playing area.

?The issue will be investigated and the findings will be reported to the executives who will take whatever course of action is deemed necessary.?

Both Beach and Wolfe were originally invited to join Thompson?s national squad but dropped from his plans when neither showed up for training.

The latest incident comes on the heels of trouble at a recent First Division match involving Somerset Trojans and Ireland Rangers in which four players were ejected and where later it is alleged a Trojan player was confronted by a knife-wielding assailant as he left the Malabar ground.

A BFA emergency task force, headed by first vice president Chris Furbert, is currently investigating the incident ? one of several to plague local football this season.

Last October, two players were attacked following matches at Southampton Oval. Devonshire Cougars forward Shaki Minors fled the scene after being set upon by bat-wielding thugs while two weeks later a Social Club player required medical treatment to minor head wounds following a brief altercation which occurred after the match involving his team and PHC Zebras.

In a BFA press statement, president Larry Mussenden said: ?The association do not condone any act of violence or illegal activity in connection with its programmes.

?We remind all registered players that playing football under the BFA is not a right, it is a privilege. We will not hesitate to remove that privilege from any registered player for any conduct unbecoming a football player whether it relates to an on the field incident or an off the field incident.

?We will not hesitate to ban for life any registered player found guilty of violence off the field but in connection with football. Further, we will not hesitate to ban from all our grounds any person found guilty of violence in connection with football.?

Mussenden called on all clubs to help in ridding football of violence, adding: ?The mandate of Bermuda Football Association is to promote the playing of football in Bermuda. We promote positive participation in sport and don?t condone any act that detracts from the success of football.?