Shaun Goater was duty-bound to answer his country's call when national soccer coach Kenny Thompson made it clear he was part of his plans, Bermuda Football Association declared yesterday.

Responding to Goater's decision not to turn out in two international friendlies against Barbados this week and in the qualifying stages of World Cup 2006 early next year, BFA General Secretary David Sabir said it was a matter of national pride and criticised the Reading striker, as well as two Island-based players, for opting out.

However, while the BFA can demand that Goater and the Devonshire Cougars pair of Raymond Beach and Heys Wolfe - arguably the hottest goalscoring trio the Island has at present - play, Sabir said the organisation would not be taking the matter to FIFA, world soccer's governing body.

Simply put, he said that if they did not want to play, then Bermuda would move on without them.

In a frank and forthright interview, Sabir said he wanted to "clearly establish that it is not about slamming Shaun Goater".

"What it is is information and clarification for the general public. The topic is not Shaun, he just happens to be the item right now," he said.

It was widely known that Thompson sought to include Goater in his squad ahead of the home and away matches with Monserrat. What was not made clear was that the 33-year-old was asked about his availability during the tour by the Bajans.

"Firstly, I think it is very important for us to make it abundantly clear that the BFA, via the national coach, invited Shaun because we wanted Shaun and we believed that Shaun would be a valuable asset to our international aspirations, in particular World Cup qualifying and, in some regards, our matches against Barbados," said Sabir yesterday.

"Let us also make it abundantly clear that Shaun Goater has said he has no desire or no intentions or at this particular time is not interested in playing for Bermuda."

As a result it appears the BFA found itself in a no-win situation. Sabir was reluctant to speculate that demanding a player return who had made it clear he was not interested might lead to a lacklustre performance, but that undoubtedly might have been the case. However, in leaving Goater, and Wolfe and Beach to a lesser degree, out then the BFA left itself open to allegations of not fielding its strongest team.

"Let us also make it abundantly clear, as it relates to the (Royal Gazette's) Friday Forum, where the sports editor states that the BFA should not make the mistake (of) not fielding its strongest team, (that that) not be applied to this particular situation involving Shaun Goater. Any opinions on what that strongest team should be is just that, because the ultimate selection has to be vested in the national coach and it is his responsibility to select the players he feels can do the job for Bermuda," said Sabir.

Referring specifically to the trio of no-shows, he went on: "What are we confronted with? We are confronted with a player who says he doesn't want to represent Bermuda at this time so what do we do? We focus on those players that want to represent Bermuda.

"It is very important for us to make the same distinction with the local players, they being Heys Wolfe and Raymond Beach. We have taken the same position, that (if) those players do not wish to represent Bermuda we have to move on and put our maximum attention on those players that do wish to represent Bermuda and let the public be the judge as to why the others do not wish to represent their country.

"We continually say that we should be committed to representing Bermuda. We put the onus always on the local players. But for the BFA there is no distinction between local and international, amateur or pro, and I think the same values should be accepted by all of Bermuda. If you are Bermudian and you have been asked to represent your country, you should do it because it's the right thing to do and you believe as an individual that it's the right thing to do."

Explaining the BFA's reason not to invite FIFA to intervene, Sabir said: "The FIFA regulations clearly give us an option by which we can make any player responsible for his decision not to play for his country. The FIFA regulations clearly state that any player who is summoned by his national association for one of its representative teams must, must, accept.

"We have made the decision that we are not going to invoke the FIFA regulation. We didn't do it for the domestic players and I see no reason why we should do it for the overseas players.

"The basic and the fundamental position is this: We want people to represent Bermuda who want to represent Bermuda and I think the public wants that as well. So if Shaun, for whatever reason, which he has not said publicly yet, does not want to represent Bermuda, then we have to move on and we have to focus on those players that do."

Sabir added: "We are not going to issue a request to FIFA . . . because what is the alternative? We insist that Shaun comes, so we force him onto a plane to come to Bermuda against his will. Or, when he should have been representing Bermuda he can't play for his club.

"To the Association that is vindictive and it serves no purpose and nobody wins. The country has to decide whether or not they can accept Shaun not coming, that's for the country but the Association must go on with its programme."

Asked whether Goater would be selected in the future, Sabir did not rule it out.

"I am not speaking for the coach, so it would be wrong for me to say that but what I will say is Shaun Goater will always be welcome in the national programme," he said. "It is clearly indicated that we asked him, the coach asked him. It's clear that we would like to have Shaun Goater in the national team, quite clear."

The saga surrounding Goater and the national team is not a new one and Sabir was happy to delve into the past.

"This situation reminds us of what happened during the last World Cup campaign," he said. "During the last World Cup campaign when the BFA was slammed for not bringing back the pros it was because we were in the same situation where Shaun indicated to the BFA via a letter that he was not prepared to come and play for Bermuda. He was focused on his club.

"We did not have the opportunity to have Shaun, the coach did not have the opportunity to have Shaun because he indicated, once again, that he was not prepared to come back and play for Bermuda."

Sabir said the BFA had paid out "thousands of dollars" for all the overseas pros to represent Bermuda.

"Financially, we have to look for those funds but those are funds well spent when you can have Bermuda's most celebrated, and rightly so, football player, who is idolised, not only by the young people in Bermuda but by many people overseas, (play)."

Sabir said other players around the world were putting themselves out for their national team at the present time.

"What is in striking contrast is that for the World Cup many players, globally, are racing back to their countries," he said. "We can't say because of the state of football in Bermuda, we can't say because we don't play many international games, we can't say because the likelihood of us making it to the finals is stacked against us because if that was the case, what would FIFA say to all the other nations other than the 32 who make it to the World Cup? Don't participate in the World Cup because you know going in you won't make it?"

Sabir cited the example of former Marseille, AC Milan and Manchester City star George Weah.

"George Weah, who was FIFA World Player of the Year, who was African Player of the Year, who was European Player of the Year, went back to Liberia and not only played with pride and continued to demonstrate his pride for his national team but also went as far as outfitting them with the national uniforms," he said. "This whole issue of country pride seems to be put on the back burner and it's easy to slam the Bermuda Football Association but it's clearly our intention to field a good team that's in keeping with the mandate that we established of trying to become one of the better nations in the Caribbean and continually providing opportunities for our young players in Bermuda."

So can Bermuda progress without Goater?

"Any squad with Shaun Goater is a better squad, let's face it," Sabir said. "But what we do have are some young players and some experienced players that are committed to representing their country and that is the best we can ask."