Islands' bid to use British professionals in their opening World Cup qualifier against Cuba in Havana on Sunday.

Forced to leave out the seven hand-picked UK pros, the tiny British dependent territory slumped to a 4-0 defeat.

As reported in The Royal Gazette last week, the Caymans had hoped to take advantage of a loophole in FIFA rules which they believed would allow British players to turn out for any country that operates inside Britain's jurisdiction.

Had their ploy worked, Bermuda and British Virgin Islands, who met on Sunday, would also have been allowed their pick of British pros who hadn't already played at international level -- as would the likes of Turks and Caicos and Anguilla.

Bermuda Football Association president Neville Tyrrell, however, had indicated that the Island would not follow Caymans' lead.

As it turned out, FIFA issued an 11th hour directive which prevented Caymans' British imports from playing in Havana, and most of them didn't even travel to Cuba.

"I was very disappointed. We played this game under protest. But we felt compelled to abide by the ruling,'' said Costa Taka, general secretary of the Cayman Islands Football Association.

The absence of the British-based players was painfully visible in Sunday's match. The Cayman Islanders put up little resistance to a faster, fitter and altogether more skilful Cuban squad.

And a disconsolate Taka was left looking for excuses. "The pitch is absolutely disgraceful. Undulations all over the place, bumpy and in my opinion dangerous,'' he said.

He added that the British players who had travelled to the Cayman Islands to take part in the World Cup qualifier had been disappointed by the FIFA decision, which had ruled that only Cayman-born nationals or five-year residents in the Caribbean dependent territory could play for the Islands.

"They were devastated. The reason they had made the trip to the Caymans was to play international football,'' Taka said.

Of the original seven selected from Britain, only Neil Sharpe of Boreham Wood and David Barnett of Lincoln City flew to Havana to watch the match from the benches. The rest, who had included Martin O'Connor of Birmingham City and Ged Brannan of Motherwell, returned to UK.

"They felt compelled to go back to their clubs and report as soon as possible,'' Taka said.

Several British club managers, such as Birmingham City's Trevor Francis, had been angry over their players' absences. Taka said he still hoped some agreement could be worked out with FIFA whereby players linked to the Cayman Islands through marriage or descendancy could play for the team.