another crisis unless the number of referees is significantly increased in the near future.

Stuart Crockwell, president of the Bermuda Football Referees Association, informed the BFA prior to the season opener two weeks ago that referees would have trouble coping with the hectic schedule and yesterday he insisted that his views hadn't changed.

"We spoke about this when we met with the BFA earlier. It was most definitely one of our concerns,' said Crockwell.

The BFRA were hard hit by the retirement of senior official Rex Osborne and the decisions by Peter Sousa, Lawrence DeShields and Gernot Wilkie to withdraw their services after the trio were all attacked by players during matches last season.

Sousa, who was aiming to become a FIFA listed official, has, however, agreed to continue to referee at a junior level.

But the absence of the four referees has had a noticeable impact as all were among the busiest officials a year ago with Osborne and Sousa appearing regularly in senior matches and DeShields and Wilkie turning out in Second Division and Alliance Division fixtures while also making frequent appearances as linesmen at senior games.

"Things are so bad now that we cannot afford to have any sickness among our members. And what makes it worse is that all of us have to double up at a time when we are confronted with work commitments, especially those of us who work on shifts. We really have to push it in order to accommodate the schedule,'' explained Crockwell.

However, the BFA remain confident that a crisis will be avoided, general secretary David Sabir assuring that the association is endeavouring to assist in improving the situation.

"We have long been aware of the shortage of referees. There's been an ongoing attempt to improve the situation and it's something that we will continue to work towards,'' said Sabir.

"It's obvious that we don't have enough referees to do every single game in association football, but there are provisions in our bylaws that provide for that. But we are striving to have referees for all matches, not just the First and Second Divisions.'' With the recent recruitment drive failing to provide Crockwell with the numbers he was seeking, a new attempt to attract referees will be undertaken with the arrival of a FIFA instructor from the United States next week to conduct referees' courses.

The instructor is Emerson Mathurin, a Canadian citizen who was born in St.

Lucia and is a CONCACAF/FIFA-listed referee and instructor.

While here Mathurin will be available to work with current officials with an aim to get them upgraded, and Crockwell is hoping the course will encourage prospective referees and linesmen to get involved.

"We are hoping good things will come out of his arrival. Hopefully it will help to encourage people who are unsure about themselves to gain further knowledge so that they will become more comfortable in taking on refereeing or linesman duties. We want to make it clear to people who don't intend to referee that they will be welcome to act as just linesmen,'' said Crockwell.