clubs, The Royal Gazette has learned.

And yesterday a frustrated BFA president Neville Tyrrell said he intended to pursue the debt at the BFA's upcoming annual general meeting.

"The clubs must be made aware that if we are to run soccer in an efficient manner we need money like this to run our programmes. They can't really expect to play soccer (and) have nobody fund it. If it's their view that they don't want to play soccer then they have to say that,'' he said.

The sum mostly represents unpaid registration fees -- some two years old -- that clubs have refused to fork out.

But whether or not the BFA gets the money remains to be seen.

Smaller clubs, especially those without their own facilities, are already finding it tough to survive and having to pay out thousands of dollars could force them to fold.

Just what response the clubs will give is unclear, but the BFA are clearly upset over the repeated delinquency and in some cases blatant disregard for club dues.

Tyrrell said the situation is getting worse -- and hinted that it could get out of hand.

"Sooner or later we are going to have to take a deep breath and make a very hard decision that is going to be painful for some because we have been carrying this exercise on for three to four years and each year we are just getting in deeper and deeper,'' he said.

"Shortly I am going to make an appeal, basically telling them that this is the only way we can run soccer. We budget on the way we intend to run soccer and that's based on the money that we get from the clubs.'' Tyrrell said it isn't fair that those who haven't paid receive the same benefits as those who have.

The BFA says that money they receive in the form of sponsorship at any time mainly goes towards youth development or covering the expenses of coaching and national teams.