The decision on who runs football in Bermuda will be decided in just under a fortnight.

But the question remains: Just who are the candidates?

Neville Tyrrell's resignation from the post of president of Bermuda Football Association means there will now be an election on August 28 when the association reconvenes its Annual General Meeting at 6.30 p.m. at Young Men's Social Club.

The original meeting a fortnight ago was adjourned following Tyrrell's decision to step down just a year into his four year term.

The man himself has not said why he decided to step down, although he has hinted he may go public after the AGM.

Curiously, nor has he ruled out standing again.

Aldwin Savery, the current second vice-president of the BFA, has assumed the position of acting president in the interim and it may well be that he takes on the role full time at the end of the month.

Savery, beaten by Tyrrell for the post in 1996, has already stated he would be prepared to run - but only if the former president remains just that.

Another name being banded about is Bermuda's national team coach Mark Trott, who mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Tyrrell's reign last year. He has refused to talk about the hot topic and given his current position and the suggestion he is to throw his hat into the ring for a coaching role at Somerset Trojans, logic would suggest he is an outsider at best.

Jon Beard, chairman of the BFA's coaching committee, could be another candidate, although the fact he is not Bermudian could weigh against him.

Beard has been in the soccer limelight for the past 12 months having been involved in the process that saw coaches chosen to head up the national programme.

A teacher at Saltus, he is known to have his own thoughts on the way forward for the sport on the Island - but what is not known is what weight he carries among the people that matter.

Chris Furbert, president of PHC, who stood for the post of second vice-president last year, is another potential candidate. He was firmly in the Trott camp during last year's election wrangle.

BFA General Secretary David Sabir said yesterday whoever was elected would sit for the remaining three years of Tyrrell's shortened term.

He once again declined to reveal just what led Tyrrell to step down saying in a statement to TheRoyal Gazette: "The Association maintains that the reasons for Mr. Tyrrell's resignation must be left up to Mr. Tyrrell himself to disseminate."

Sabir said the executive committee had now focused their attention on the various administrative matters that also needed to be cleared up, while also preparing for the start of the new season.

"We are committed to ensuring that the season will start without any delays," he said. "With the help of our clubs we are also conducting a general review of our registration profiles, which will provide relevant information about the numbers and make-up of people involved in our sport. This accurate information will greatly assist with developing a strategic plan that will be used in the future to articulate the importance of football to the community but more importantly act as a starting point to educate those who actively participate in football about how they can contribute positively to the development of football in the future."

Unusually for Sabir, he then goes on to give a personal insight into what challenges he believes lay ahead for the BFA including the issue of drugs, the development of the senior and junior programme and the involvement of the community in the sport.

"With regards to drugs in the community, football can categorically state that it has played its part and will continue to play its part in supporting the 'no drugs in sport' message," he said. "Have we eradicated drugs from all of football? The answer is no. Has drugs been eradicated from our community? The answer is an even stronger no. But we are committed to helping those who play football and who fall victim to the illness of drugs to support their own efforts to rehabilitate themselves. Our national programme will bear witness to the fact that we have at least planted the seed that any athlete who desires to participate at the highest level cannot and will not be allowed to do so while indulging in the use of banned substances. And our national programme will also bear witness that all players who have joined and remain in our national programme have done so on the basis of their commitment to being drug-free."

Sabir said there was a need for "technical and tactical improvements across all divisions", a need to improve administrative proficiency at both executive and club level and a need to secure a "revenue and income stream that will lead to long term support of the future growth and prosperity for football both on and off the playing field".

"For all in football and for those whose desire it is to see football reach its full potential, keep hope alive and remember that football will only improve with active support and the realisation that football must embrace the community and the community must do its part and embrace football," he said. "We must accept and recognise that there are different opinions and many strategies on what is best for football.

"Our aim must turn to selecting that group of strategies which represents the collective view of the football family and transfer that support into 100 percent plus active participation to doing at all times that which is "For the good of the game."