The Bermuda Football Association has been landed with a bill believed to be in excess of $20,000 for its recent under-17 football campaign, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

And general secretary David Sabir also said that despite bumper crowds no money was made from staging the World Cup qualifiers on the Island.

The demand, which is for the use of the National Stadium for both training and competition purposes from October through to the tournament's climax in February, has not come as a shock to the Association.

But Sabir said it should dispel once and for all the myth that the BFA is in charge of the arena and gets to use the facilities for free.

Kenny Thompson's team of youngsters wowed the nation when they were just a draw away from making it through the next phase of the competition in the United States.

Thousands turned out for the week-long tournament which culminated in the clash with Jamaica. Although they crashed 4-2 to the Reggae Boyz, their performances were seen as a bright light in what had been a pretty dismal year for soccer on the Island.

"Like all users, I am led to believe, there is a fee,'' said Sabir. "The association does not have control or ownership of the stadium as some people believe we do. As such we are treated like all other associations in that we get a bill. There is a fee attached to training usages and there is a fee attached to usages for matches, domestic and internationally.

"We are happy to say that the trustees of the National Stadium work with us in terms of our requirements and they certainly appreciate the fact we are a governing body and like all governing bodies have limited financial resources and as such do their utmost to assist us where they can.'' The same, Sabir said, could be said for the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

"However, there is no free usage of the stadium as far as the association is concerned and we have to comply with the rules and regulations that the stadium has in effect for all users,'' he said.

Sabir said from October there was not a week went by where the stadium was not used as Thompson prepared his team for competition.

"We were there as far back as October and it was every week and at least two or three days a week,'' he said. It is believed the total fee is in excess of $20,000 but Sabir would not confirm that when asked.

"I don't know specifically how it is divvied up, that's something the Board of Trustees deal with. We just have a fee applied to the use of the stadium,'' he said. "Without saying specifically I can assure you the fee is in excess of $10,000.'' Sabir said a portion of the gate receipts were handed over as well as part of the agreement.

Continued on page 23 BFA hit with big bill Continued from page 21 "The fact still remains, against popular belief, that there is no control over the stadium by the Bermuda Football Association and neither is it free to us.'' Asked if he thought national programmes should be allowed to use the facility without charge, Sabir said it was not for him to say.

"That might be my opinion, but I never give my personal opinion on behalf of football,'' he said. "But that's a question that I think all national sport governing bodies would want to take issue with.'' Sabir said there was no question of the BFA not being able to pay. He added: "Through sponsorship and the fantastic support of the Bermuda public the financial `success' amounts to nothing more than breaking even.'' However, he said things had to be viewed in perspective.

"There has to be an appreciation of the value of actually showcasing the game here against the overall cost and the overall cost was well, well worth it,'' he said.

Member of the stadium's Board of Trustees, Dr. Gerard Bean, who has special responsibility for matters regarding the hiring of the arena, said all sporting bodies were made aware of the costs in advance.

"I do not know what the billing is because that is a routine matter that is taken care of by the administrator of the stadium Clifford Wade. So therefore I don't know what the charges are but I can tell you the charges are normal charges and have not been changed in the last 10 years,'' he said.

Bean said the trustees had to operate to a budget and were answerable to Government and dismissed any suggestion of giving the facility for free.

"From time to time we get requests from various bodies to adjust the charges for specific occasions, but to ask if we will be eliminating charges is not realistic,'' he said.

"We have the costs of maintaining and running the stadium and I can tell you that what we are charging the national governing bodies in no way meets the cost of running the stadium.''