sponsorship of local football -- but it will not lend its support to the Under-23 team's Olympic qualifying bid.

The last sponsorship deal the Bank had with Bermuda Football Association ended when Director of Coaching Burkhard Ziese was fired in January. That deal, which was for three years, covered the salary of Ziese.

And though the Bank has not been able to assist in the Olympic campaign, having been a major sponsor of the World Cup qualifying games in 1992, Louis Mowbray, Executive Vice President Administration, has not ruled out the possibility that help will be provided at some time in the future.

"We were approached about support for the Olympic team but the amount of money was quite a large amount which we did not have budgeted,'' Mowbray explained yesterday.

Mowbray's comments came a day after The Royal Gazette revealed that Bermuda's participation in the Olympic qualifying tournament -- they are scheduled to meet Costa Rica in a two-leg match on July 29 and August 6 -- was being threatened because of a lack of funds.

The BFA was hit hard financially following the arrest of seven players in Miami for drug possession on the way back from Jamaica for Pan-Am Games qualifying matches.

Subsequently a Government Board of Inquiry was established to look into drug use in the game and with the image of the sport being tarnished, corporate sponsors have since been cautious about donating funds.

"We, along with a lot of others, are waiting to see what the results of some of the recommendations of the Board of Inquiry will be,'' said Mowbray.

"We are certainly prepared to provide some support for football in the future but obviously there is quite a lot of cleaning up to do.'' Mowbray explained that the latest sponsorship deal the Bank of Bermuda had with the Bermuda Football Association did not involve funding for tours but more to provide training for coaches and the youth programme.

"We're not involved in anything right now but we're prepared to do things in the future depending on the progress they make. We're just waiting to see how much progress gets made on the recommendations of the commission.''