Association (BFA) president Charles Marshall said that if BFA officials were aware of drug problems on the Under-23 squad, but refused to deal with them, "they are just as guilty as the ones who were caught'' in Miami on December 9.

The former soccer chief, who resigned in frustration last July over a number of issues including drug abuse in the sport, called for an "in-depth investigation of exactly what has happened with our national sport.'' Marshall, contacted at his home yesterday, added how he "was not here to destroy or conduct a witchhunt.

"I believe if you do some investigating, the BFA were made aware of (drug problems) by the coach (Mark Trott) a long time before they went to Jamaica.

And at the end of the day everyone in this country knows we've got a serious drug problem and football is not immune to it.'' Hand-written notes written by Burkhard Ziese, and obtained by The Royal Gazette yesterday, prove that BFA executives were aware of a drug problem on the Under-23 squad four days before the first qualifying match against Canada on December 2 and 10 days before seven players were charged in Miami for importing and possessing marijuana on December 9.

Ziese, interviewed by The Royal Gazette last night, refused to comment on the revelations contained in the letters. Surprisingly, however, he said that he was capable of continuing in his BFA post.

Earlier in the day, CONCACAF president Jack Warner said Ziese "is showing remarkable courage. Guys normally take care of their own interests at first.

What he has done here is put his neck on the line and I appreciate it very much.

"I have given the assurance to him that if anything happens out of this because of spite I shall make sure he's protected worldwide.'' Ziese said Sport, Recreation and Youth Minister Pamela Gordon requested a report from him on the ill-fated Under-23 squad, due today at 5 p.m. Ziese said she has also requested separate reports from the BFA, Under-23 captain Dwayne Adams and club physiotherapist Kevin Anderson.

Said Marshall: "I think we should have a group of respected individuals in the community who are prepared to stand up and say enough is enough and this is what we must do to try and save some of our young people and certainly not have an embarrassment such as we have today.

"My feeling is extremely strong on drugs and I tried when I was the president to get some sort of policy. The clubs and members of the executive were totally reluctant to deal with that issue.

"We know that drugs have been a scourge on football matches, affecting the gates, players, officials and people wanting their children to participate in football.

"If we had taken a policy on drugs and enforced it some two, three years ago then perhaps we would not have had this dreadful situation.'' Marshall said that if he was still at the BFA helm and aware of players abusing drugs they would not have been permitted to go to Jamaica.

"If the association ignored these issues then they were totally irresponsible,'' he said. "It was a bad error. If they were aware of it then they condoned it by their lack of ability to do anything about it or their ability not to want to do anything about it.

"We all know there's a drug problem not only at a national level but at club level and it's massive. It's like a cancer because leaders are continuously ignoring it.'' Charlie Marshall