Devonshire Cougars have been named as shock replacements for Dandy Town in this Saturday's Charity Cup clash against North Village at BAA Field (8 p.m.).

The surprise switch comes after Bermuda Football Association, during a weekend meeting, determined that the rules of the competition called for teams winning a championship in the previous season to be matched up in the event.

Town were beaten finalists in the FA Cup and never won any of the other competitions while Cougars lifted the Martonmere Cup.

Village's place in the Charity Cup was never in doubt as they won both the league title and the FA Cup.

BFA rules dictate that the traditional season curtain-raiser pits the Premier Division champions against the FA Cup champions. But since Village captured both, a decision was originally made to have them play the FA Cup runners-up, Dandy Town.

"After giving the matter a lot of thought we decided to make a direct change to the participants this year. It's going to be North Village going into the Charity Cup as winners of the Premier Division and FA Cup against Martonmere Cup champions Devonshire Cougars,'' said Charles Clarke, chairman of the BFA League and Competitions committee and a former vice-president of Cougars.

"We came up with the decision over the weekend, the reason being there was a debate on how the rules were read.

"Some people took the view that going back in descending order and including Dandy Town like we did was the correct way, while others felt that since Dandy Town didn't win any title they should not be included because the rules state the event should feature a clash of champions."

The BFA, after receiving advice from lawyers, decided that the rules favoured the inclusion of a championship-winning side and therefore extended an invitation to bring in Wolves as they were champions of the Dudley Eve.

But Wolves, who were relegated from the Premier Division at the end of last season, declined that invitation.

It was then that soccer chiefs approached Cougars, the reigning Martonmere Cup champs.

"Although Dandy Town were originally honoured at being invited, they felt that since they didn't win anything one of the championship-winning teams should be included this year," added Clarke.

"So it hasn't been any controversy of any sort, it was something that we looked at carefully and having taken a closer look at the rules the decision was made to make the necessary adjustments."

It is not known why Wolves refused the invitation, but the departure of coach Dennis Brown at the end of last season combined with the exit of some key players could mean that they needed more time to prepare for the new season.

Dandy Town also lost coach Andrew Bascome at the end of last season and because they have yet to find a replacement were reportedly not too upset about the late switch.

"We are not too worried about the news, we lost Carlos Smith last year playing in the Charity Cup so it's no big thing. We understand that, according to the rules, North Village are supposed to be playing a champion and we were only runners-up,'' said Town manager Wayne Baxter.

"It's no discrepancy, no controversy, we accept and understand the situation and wish the two teams the best of luck. It should be a good match-up between the two."

Clarke said that the BFA were pleased to see the problem worked out without any controversy, revealing that they would be going over the rules of the competition to avoid any similar problems in the future.

"We plan to go back and change or adjust the rules so that there will be no discrepancy in the future as to what is going to take place if a team wins more than one of the trophies," said Clarke.

The opening game on Saturday night will be a women's clash between Hemisphere Royals and Rude Girls, starting at 6 p.m..