league and cup matches a few weeks ago in protest of a BFA decision are among the culprits who are in debt to the governing body to the tune of $30,000.

The cash, owed by an unidentified number of clubs for memberships and registration fees, has been sought by Bermuda Football Association for several months, but attempts to collect the money have reportedly proved futile.

"It's ridiculous and certainly way out of hand. It's a real concern to the BFA and I'm afraid that there appears to be no simple way of dealing with it right now,'' said one official who didn't wish to be named.

BFA president Neville Tyrrell could not be reached for comment, but last July he advised that he intended to pursue any club debts at the annual general meeting at the end of that month. However, little appears to have happened since.

"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,'' said Tyrrell at the time.

The current debt mostly represents unpaid registration fees and some clubs are believed to be two years in arrears.

And it presents the BFA with a dilemma in that they can hardly fine the delinquent clubs who are already facing extreme financial hardship.

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.

Tyrrell has previously said that the situation was 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 last summer.

"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.'' The president noted that it wasn't fair that those who hadn't paid received the same benefits as those who had.

The BFA have already indicated that money they receive in the form of sponsorship goes mainly towards youth development or covering the expenses of coaching and travel of the various national teams.