Premier Ewart Brown has welcomed a change in leadership at Bermuda Football Association, following the governing body's recent annual general meeting.

And he said he thought that sailing should be considered one of the Island's national sports.

His comments were made at the end of Dr. Brown's round table discussion with the media at Berkeley Institute on Monday night when he invited questions from the audience.

Asked by Royal Gazette Sports Editor Adrian Robson whether he thought the multi-million dollar funding commitment to the Island's two national sports, football and cricket, had been considered a good investment, he replied: "The jury's still out."

" . . . our teams in cricket and football are not doing well", he conceded.

" . . . I think that in football, with the change of leadership that's going now, it's a progressive step."

Former president Larry Mussenden was again voted in as head of the BFA, replacing Richard Calderon who stepped down after serving only two years of his four-year term.

"The recognition of those two sports (cricket and football) as the national sports makes sense," said Dr. Brown.

"When the money went to cricket and football I remember saying to the cricket people and the football people, you have got to make use of this investment, you have got to make progress. And I believe that they are doing things that will enable us to see in a few years the results. I have learnt one thing about sports, you can't judge the development of a team by its current record all the time. When you're in development, it takes time, it takes losing.

"Our teams in cricket and football are not doing very well. More importantly, I'm concerned about whether they really want to be better.

"I've told them, I've told them this in Trinidad during the World Cup, that if you just want to be the best cricketer between Dockyard and St. David's give us the money back. But seriously, we talk like that, there are people that say that I'm being harsh . . . That's just reality.

"I don't have a long time to say it. I want them to get the message that if you don't want to reach for excellence then you should not encourage the investment in you.

"And so I think that in football, with the change of leadership that's going now, it's a progressive step. Let's give them a little time. I would say I wouldn't call it a bad investment until it's been seven or eight years, given them some time to develop.

"But if at the end of that period we see no development from the youth up then I would say it's time to question. I think the time is now to have more than those two national sports.

"I think it's time to add some sports. I think sailing ought to be considered a national sport and I think that it should be adequately funded."