is becoming an annual crisis -- the acute shortage of referees.

Last season some 600 matches were handled by only 20 active refs, stretching those officials to the limit with demands made on them two or three times a week.

Chairman of the Referees Committee at Bermuda Football Association, Gregory Grimes, Referees Association vice-president Lyndon Raynor and BFA general secretary, David Sabir, all admit that the issue needs immediate attention.

"It's beyond acute,'' said Grimes yesterday. "Unless we get numbers I feel that the schedule this year will not be finished because it has passed the critical stage.

"Last season we had 29 registered referees but only 20 were active and we had roughly 600 matches which meant that some people were doing two or three matches a weekend which is not good for football and not good for the referees.'' Presently there are six Class I referees, with Raynor and Anthony Mouchette qualifying in May. They join Stuart Crockwell, Estin Curtis, Cal Simons and Gary Cook.

Despite recruitment drives, the call for would-be officials to come forward has mostly fallen on deaf ears. The BFA and BRA plan to target ex-players and those who offer their services to run a line when a linesman doesn't show up.

The intention now is to boost the ranks sufficiently so that referees can concentrate solely on refereeing matches, backed up by a regular pool of referees assistants (linesmen and lineswomen).

"The benefit of this is that it will allow the current match officials that we have registered in the programme the opportunity to concentrate on becoming specialised referees,'' said Sabir.

"Anyone can get involved. Currently we know that when there is a shortage, people come from the sidelines to participate and we're asking those people to become registered officials.

"There seems to be an underlying fear amongst people that refereeing is a bad occupation and we must dispel that belief. We appeal to people to look at refereeing for what good it does for the sport of football.'' Raynor says much of the violence against officials has been eliminated. He says verbal abuse is part and parcel of the sport, which is emotional by nature.

"It's up to the person to say `I'll ignore the verbal abuse','' Raynor stated. "You get verbal abuse all over the world and if you can overcome that you'll be alright.'' Added Sabir: "I don't believe it is anything personal. There is no question that football is the most emotional sport there is and with those emotions sometimes come outbursts.'' Many of football's problems in relation to disputing officials' decisions stems from a lack of knowledge of those rules among players, coaches and fans.

"Throughout the season I'm having to explain to coaches why this was done and their reaction to me is `oh, I didn't know it had been changed','' Raynor explained.

"The problem is the coaches haven't been brought up to date with the rules and therefore they are coaching their players the wrong way.

"If we can get the coaches to be well briefed of the laws and then coach their players how the laws should be applied, then we can go a long way to solving some of the problems we have on the field.'' A basic course for beginners will be held from August 24 to 27 from 6.00 to 8.00 p.m. at a venue to be determined. A continuation course will be held on August 29 and 30 by a visiting instructor from the United States Soccer Federation.

The new season is tentatively scheduled to start on September 6 with the Charity Shield between league champions Vasco and Martonmere Cup winners Boulevard. Traditionally the match is between the league and FA Cup champions but Vasco won that trophy as well as the Dudley Eve and Friendship.

Bermuda were eliminated from the Youth World Cup qualifying tournament in Jamaica, going down to the host country 6-0 on Wednesday night. That followed a 5-1 loss to Barbados in their opening match. Jamaica advanced to the finals, having beaten Barbados 6-2 in their opening match.