There have been plenty of decisions handed down by the Bermuda Football Association over the past year that have left people scratching their heads.

Three that immediately spring to mind are; Ray Jones' two-year ban from football for his verbal spat with referee Ronue Cann, Kris Frick's five-year domestic ban for refusing to play for the national team, and the bizarre circumstances surrounding the removal of Mackie Crane from the St George's Colts starting line-up just moments before the First Divison Dudley Eve Final last month.

Crane was due to go in front of a disciplinary hearing at the BFA last night, and given the recent events at the game's headquarters it is anyone's guess what punishment he will come away with.

None of these however come close to the remarkable decision to force St George's to play a 'home' game against Somerset Eagles in Somerset last week.

Orginially scheduled to be played at Wellington Oval on Sunday, January 4, the game was switched, after the death of Dandy Town's Machai Campbell forced a change in date for the Dudley Eve finals to Tuesday, January 6.

At the time Colts boss Kenny Bascome said he believed his side would come off worst, and he has been proved right.

Games are postponed all the time for various reasons, from bad weather, to fixture congestion, but it is incredible that the re-arranged fixture punished the home team both on and off the pitch. Even more so when St George's and Eagles, second and third in the league and level on points at the time, are battling for promotion.

Can you imagine the FA in England postponing a game between Arsenal and Manchester United and then telling Arsene Wenger that his side had to play the game in Manchester. It wouldn't happen.

On top of this St George's also lost the income from a Sunday afternoon home game, and were forced to share the meagre takings from a sparsely attended Tuesday night game with Somerset Cricket Club, not something many clubs can afford in the current economic climate.

President Neil Paynter has kept a dignified silence on the matter, probably appreciating that the current administration's tolerance threshold for dissent is remarkably low, but he should be asking questions and demanding answers from the BFA.

After all, are we expected to believe that there was no free-weekend between now and the end of the season when the game could have been played at the Wellington Oval. And if not, why wasn't it played at Devonshire Rec, the ground which was designated as the venue for St George's night matches at the beginning of the season.

In this instance the Tuesday night clashed with a reserve FA Cup date, which is fair enough, but Wednesday was said to be out because it was Devonshire Rec's bingo night.

But what about the following week, would it have been so hard to play then?

It is true that there is a space issue in Bermuda, and only a few grounds have floodlights, but surely playing the game in Somerset should have been a last resort when all other options were exhausted.

So far the BFA have refused to answer questions on the issue, as they have done in the past when questioned about Jones, Frick and Crane.

In some cases they are behaving like an autonomous body, making unilateral decisions and answerable to no one.

Perhaps it is because St George's are a First Division club and so do not carry much clout in the game, and banning a petulant teenager like Frick, who plays most of his football in America, may have been more symbolic than anything else, but there is a greater issue.

It goes to judgment.

The bans handed to Jones and Frick were extreme to say the least, and the BFA have done themselves no favours by handing out such punishments.

They have set a precedent, one they must stick to in the future, or leave themselves open to accusations of favouritism and incompetence.

It is unrealistic to ban someone for two years for such a minor offence, and a five-year ban for a petulant teenager is beyond contempt.

So too the decision to make Colts play in Somerset, it makes a mockery of the game, and eats away at the BFA's credibility.

JOSH BALL