*** Since the Executive Committee made the decision not to renew the contract of our former Technical Director Mr. Clyde (Bunny) Best in December, 1999, there has been plenty of public sentiment and discussion over our decision.

Unfortunately, these discussions have turned into derogatory attacks against the executive committee, voluntary members who serve on our Committee and against myself specifically as President of the Bermuda Football Association.

Since our decision regarding Mr. Best, we accept that much of the public sentiment has been guided by the reports carried via the media. We also accept that much of what has been reported is a collection of interviews, reports and information leaks given to the media from sources, and not from the BFA itself. Hence, it is only this information that has been reported by the media.

Therefore, we accept that the stance taken by our media and the general public at large is a result of the BFA Executive Committee not publicly responding to these issues until today. This was a deliberate stance adopted by the executive committee.

After much in-house discussions and dealing with many other important issues relevant to running football, we are here before you to present our position on a few matters that we believe need to be addressed. In doing so, we want to make it perfectly clear to everyone that it is not our intention to discredit anyone associated with the sport of football.

Our statement today will represent our position in order to give balance to that which has been stated previously in the media. We also believe that the community deserves to know our position and be given the opportunity to make judgement on all the facts.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING Our purpose here today is to enlighten you about some of the challenges that we faced during our World Cup campaign while at the same time trying to represent Bermuda as best we could under the circumstances.

Since being eliminated from the World Cup, we have met with our senior team coaches, players and the BFA affiliates. These meetings were scheduled to allow everyone to voice their opinions and give feedback on their view of our World Cup elimination.

Although it was not the only topic, much discussion involved the overseas professionals and why they did not play in the matches against Antigua. Our local players felt that we should have done some things differently. We accept that we may have taken a few things for granted based on the circumstances.

For instance, the players felt we should have attended more training sessions and when we did we should have made our presence known. The players also felt that we should have sent someone days ahead of the team when we played in BVI and Antigua to ensure that details were in place prior to the team's arrival.

Perhaps in the future, the executive committee should take full control over such matters.

TRAINING There was much debate on the best way to train and prepare the senior team for the World Cup. Some felt it was better if we paid the players full time to leave their jobs. Some thought part-time was sufficient. Some felt we should put them in a local training camp. Others thought it would be better to go overseas for training and matches.

Two very important factors dictated in the method chosen to prepare the team: 1) There were no available funds to pay the players' salaries while they were training full time at least for the preliminary rounds. Our proposal spoke of having the players off from work and training together for a period of time prior to each match. Without the available finances it was not possible.

2) Based on the above, the technical staff requested a training tour and matches overseas for the senior team. This happened in February. Additionally, the Olympic team, comprising players who also participated in the World Cup team travelled to Florida for training and matches on two occasions, December, 1999, and February this year with the senior team. The senior team also had the benefit of a number of competitive matches dating back to 1998. These would include two matches against Antigua, two matches against Cayman Islands, a match against DC United, two matches against the Danish Olympic team, matches against Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Cuba during the Copa Caribe Tournament and a match against the Canadian national Team.

These matches were all played locally. Our team also had the opportunity to play against the USA U-20 team, Miami Fusion of the MLS, University of South Florida, and the University of Tampa while on tour to Orlando, Florida, in February. The senior team had been training together under the guidance of Technical Director Clyde Best, head coach Robert Calderon and assistant coach Mark Trott since 1997.

It is my opinion that our coaches did the best job they could with the resources available. I must also add that I do not wish to critique the tactical and technical decisions made by the coaches. Again, they had that responsibility while being in control of the team and I believe they have addressed the issues themselves.

It is most unfortunate that once our team was eliminated from the World Cup, the entire BFA programme and the people involved came under attack. There were issues regarding training at the National Sports Centre that somehow suggested that the executive was preventing the team from training there when they wanted or needed to.

The fact is the Board of Trustees of the National Sports Centre makes all the decisions and the manager institutes those decisions to the users. There were disagreements on some occasions between the trustees and the BFA and resolutions were achieved on most of those occasions. At no time did the executive suggest that we not be at the stadium. I must also advise you that we get charged to use the Stadium for our national programme. Since we started using the stadium in October, 1999, for the U-15 and World Cup/Olympic teams, we have received a bill in excess of $20,000 ending January and are expecting to receive an additional bill for February to the present.

PLAYERS Since being eliminated from the World Cup, we have heard much debate about the exclusion of players, those locally and our professionals overseas.

Firstly, it is grossly unfair that the coaches be criticised for the non-involvement of certain local players. Along with the coaches, we reviewed a list of players who could have assisted the team. The sad reality is that those players whom persons felt should have been in the team had issues that made them unavailable to represent Bermuda.

The primary reason surrounded issues of illicit drug use, failing the drug test or failing to show for a drug test. Other reasons not readily known to the general public were injuries, work related issues and family commitments all of which were understandable and excusable.

It is no doubt in our minds and certainly in the minds of the coaches that those players on the sidelines could have assisted our team.

Our overseas professional players caused us the biggest challenge during the World Cup. In hindsight, there could have been things that we the executive and the coaches could have done differently. We were faced with a series of media campaigns that started after our team defeated British Virgin Islands during the first leg match in BVI.

If you can recall, Shaun Goater gave a newspaper interview suggesting that he not participate with our team during the qualifying matches against BVI and Antigua. The coaches were put in a situation of having to consider our team's results before deciding whether or not to recall the overseas players.

Mr. Best had been in constant contact with the players' clubs over their availability and at one time a compromise position was taken to allow Shaun and Kyle to miss the return match against BVI in Bermuda. As we approached the matches against Antigua, pressure mounted from supporters of "leave the pros alone,'' led by continuous commentary in the media that Shaun wished to remain with Manchester City.

You also had the media debating the pros and cons of both Shaun and Kyle's involvement with our team.

We received letters from both Kyle and Shaun asking us to excuse them from participating in the qualifying matches during the most critical stage of their careers.

Now look at the position they put the BFA and the coaches in when deciding what to do. You have two of your most experienced players, who could have played a major role in our team advancing to the next round, telling you they wish to be excused from playing for Bermuda at this time. We had the option to force them back, which does not render a favourable relationship between them, the BFA and the coaches or the players make a decision not to return forcing the BFA to invoke the FIFA rule to prevent them from playing for their clubs.

If we used the last option, they would not have played another match for their clubs as long as we would have remained in the World Cup. This was not an ideal situation.

Regarding David Bascome, it was the coaches' decision not to use him and nothing further needs to be said by us about this matter.

A segment of the media together with some members of the general public criticised the BFA for the non-involvement of the overseas pros. We understand the criticism but everyone should realise that we could not force Shaun and Kyle to come back and play against their wishes. The only thing we could have done was to prevent them from playing for their club overseas.

Instead of doing this, we attempted to negotiate on the basis of a compromise, in that their clubs would return a similar gesture to us as we did for them during our matches against BVI at home and Antigua in Antigua.

Unfortunately, things did not work out to our benefit. Maybe the approach we should take for the future is that we demand a recall of our professional players and forget what circumstances they are in at the time overseas.

Let me end this segment by saying, had the circumstances been different, I sincerely believe both Shaun and Kyle would have been delighted to represent Bermuda during our World Cup matches.

OVERALL VIEW It is most unfortunate that matters relating to decisions made by the executive committee over the last few months were played out in the media.

Again, we make no apologies for not involving ourselves in these media debates. Our stance is never to discredit anyone associated with football either directly or indirectly. We see no value in doing that as football belongs to no one.

We are also concerned with the lack of respect or appreciation given towards the volunteer work of the executive committee members. Against all belief not one single member of the BFA executive committee has received financial compensation, not even a single honorarium (according to the BFA Constitution) has been given in the last four years under my presidency.

This group is dedicated to football. We did not say that we had all the answers or that we would not make mistakes. We did pledge to do our very best with the resources available to our sport. And we think we've done a decent job.

Just reflect upon our international activity since 1996. Every age group including women are participating internationally.

Are we sitting on our laurels? No! Our work has just begun. But we must be realistic. While other countries such as the USA pour millions of dollars into their football programme and their fans support them because it is the patriotic thing to do, we get personal and decide to stay away from the turnstiles because we don't like the people in the BFA.

What hypocrisy! We have become so negative that we say ridiculous things like, "I love football but I'm not paying to watch the national team'' or "I'm not paying to go to National Stadium.'' We even heard people shouting in the stands "Come on BVI, Come on Antigua.'' And the verbal abuse directed against our coaches on the benches was deplorable.

We even had some of the media discussing the Bermuda team and our programme as if they were the opposition. Not once did it come across as if this was Bermuda's team. What effect do you think this continues to have on the players, coaches and this executive committee when they have to consider representing Bermuda, particularly when we play in Bermuda at the National Stadium.

The challenge now is for the Executive Committee of the BFA to overturn this perception even if it is only a perception. And that is what the future for us is all about.

We must continue going forward and in doing so look at ways of improving what we have done in the past.

THE FUTURE Our international programme was not based solely on our senior team's participation in the World Cup. It was an important aspect of our plan but not the only focus. We still have the U-16 team participating in the Caribbean Youth Championships against the US Virgin Islands and our women's national team will travel to Haiti to play in the Caribbean Championship group finals from July 10-18.

Our U-16 team will participate in the U-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in November.

We stated previously that we are taking the time to reassess the entire football programme domestically and internationally. This is important in order that we meet the challenges placed on football locally. It is our desire to continue with an international programmme at all levels.

Some very important discussions will be held over the next few weeks to aid in this position. We will direct our attention to preparing for the 2000-2001 domestic season. The focus of this will come from our restructuring plan.

We will be meeting with the technical officer from FIFA regarding the allocation and utilisation of the FIFA $1 million grant. To eliminate any misconceptions, the BFA does not have that money in its possession. The allowance is $250,000 per year over four years.

FIFA via their technical officer must approve all requests, which are subject to the conditions of the grant procedures.

We will continue our focus on the clubs, schools and an island-wide development programme for all ages both male and female, girls and boys. This is paramount if we want to maintain the status as the island's leading sport of choice.

Collectively, we must focus on how to accomplish this goal and what resources are needed in order to improve the game. We have considered the challenges over the last three to five years and recognise that some things must be done differently if we are to improve football.

To this end, we will continue to consult with CONCACAF and FIFA and rely heavily on the support of our affiliates and clubs.

We will turn our collective efforts to improving football's infrastructure, both at the club level and the national level. We must be prepared to make some bold decisions for the good of the game. We have to rethink how we raise funds, attract fan support, promote the game and its participants.

We have to face the issue of drug use in football as we can see that it impacted negatively upon the players available to the national programme.

The BFA must not shoulder the blame entirely for this drug use problem but look to partner in with other community agencies in helping to discourage our players from becoming affected by this disease.

CLOSING REMARKS In closing, managing football is not an easy job. It is an honour to be given the opportunity to contribute to and represent football. And in saying so, I speak for the entire executive committee.

As we run through our minds the state of football past and present, I ask each one of you to consider these questions. Have we not made a contribution to football over the last few years? Did we not contribute our efforts to the rebirth of the international programme? Have we not maintained a domestic programme despite the many challenges and obstacles facing football? Can we do more to improve football? I believe, in each case the answer is a resounding yes! On behalf of the executive committee, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to make this statement.

Bermuda Football Association president Neville Tyrrell (centre) makes a point while addressing local journalists at a press conference at the Department of Youth and Sport earlier this week.