friendly full internationals at National Stadium late this summer -- probably towards the end of September.

BFA General Secretary David Sabir said yesterday the planned Cuba visit was a continuation of the association's Six-Year International Programme.

And they would endeavour to find ways of increasing activity for both the senior and junior national teams which they intend to assemble and keep in training on a long-term basis.

"Our intention is to concentrate on this development process and try to keep the teams involved with as many fixtures as possible,'' said Sabir.

Although Cuba had agreed to visit, the tour wasn't definite, said Sabir, because of difficulties faced in flying the squad here. But he said he was optimistic the tour would come off.

"The main thing at this stage is that Cuba have responded stating that they would very much love to travel here, news which we were delighted to hear,'' added Sabir.

"As you can appreciate there is difficulty in travelling to and from Cuba, but as it is for most of our Caribbean counterparts it's very expensive to come here. So we are hoping that by the end of the negotiations process everything will be sorted out and that the Bermuda national team and the sporting public will once again have the privilege of seeing some good international soccer played on home soil.'' Meanwhile, invitations have also been sent to other countries in the Caribbean and Central America.

Sabir did not name the countries that have been approached, but believed to be among them are Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.

"We continue to send out letters to our colleagues in CONCACAF. To date Cuba have been the early ones replying.

"In an effort to continue to foster good relationships in the area, the BFA fully realises that this approach is a good exercise which will pay us huge dividends in the long run.

"As far as Cuba are concerned, they are traditionally a very formidable soccer country having represented themselves well in the Caribbean region. We played them in the Pan-Am Games in Winnipeg, Canada, on July 27, 1967 and the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Then we played again on March 10, 1974 during the CAC Games and Cuba won 2-0. So it would be great to see if we can even the series against them.'' Several new faces are expected to be added to the existing national squad which has already played matches against Jamaica, St. Marten and the Kansas City Wizards of the MISL this year.

"So far we are ahead of our goal set in the Six-Year-Plan,'' said Sabir. "In addition to getting matches to satisfy our long-term plan, it gives us the opportunity to also prepare for the many major international competitions that lie ahead such as the Shell/Umbro, Pan-Am Games and eventually the qualifying stages of the next World Cup that we enter.

"The road ahead for soccer is quite exciting for the players of our many national teams, the coaches and of course the sporting public at large. We are very optimistic about the future of the sport, and we are satisfied that we are steering it in the right direction with what will probably be one of the strongest development programmes that the sport has ever experienced.''