IT'S early days, and the season hasn't even started in earnest, but there are signs that a recently-installed new administration has both the tools and the willpower to put local football back on an even keel.

One of the most significant indicators emerged from last Saturday night's Martonmere Cup matches at BAA Field where both drug dealers and users were literally herded out of the ground, thanks to the efforts of police and a newly-formed BFA safety and security committee.

And if their work was dismissed by some as just another exercise in public relations, then hopefully any such cynicism was allayed by the comments of BFA president Larry Mussenden and police inspector Stuart Crockwell, who also happens to be one of the Island's top referees.

Both made it clear that the crackdown on drugs enforced at last Saturday's matches wasn't a one-off initiative. It will, they insist, continue throughout this season.

Not before time, there finally seems to be a realisation that if you remove, say five drug dealers from every soccer ground, you're encouraging potentially another 100 spectators to come through the turnstiles.

It's no secret that football's demise over the past five to 10 years has largely been linked to drugs.

The effects have infiltrated every facet of the sport.

Crowds have dwindled due largely to the fact that families have been driven away by both the noxious smell of marijuana at local grounds and the obnoxious behaviour it encourages by those who indulge.

The standard of play has dropped, partly because too many players are among those who have a drugs habit.

The various national team programmes have suffered because as talented as some players are, they're not prepared to undergo drug tests demanded by international football; sponsors have backed off, not wanting to be associated with a sport tainted by illicit drugs; and referees have taken early retirement, fed up to the teeth with the abuse from fans, many of whom are all too often `high' as a kite.

It's been a sad, sorry story for too long.

And as Crockwell pointed out yesterday, most of those involved with drugs are the same people who refuse to pay at the gate. Instead, they sneak through holes in the fence, climb over walls and threaten anyone who happens to stand in their way.

If that element can be largely removed _ total eradication is perhaps wishful thinking _ then there's every chance that the new BFA can succeed where the past has failed.

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FOR whatever reason, entries for this weekend's Bank of Bermuda Team Triathlon are considerably down on previous years.

And given that many of the youngsters who compete are the same athletes who also enjoy cross-country and athletics, one would have thought that may have been of some concern to Bermuda Track and Field Association.

Apparently not.

Rather than throw their support behind what over the years has been a major event on the local sporting calendar, the BTFA have decided out of the blue to schedule an event in direct conflict with Sunday morning's triathlon.

While it seems largely unnecessary, with the team virtually picking itself, the Association have organised a cross-country time trial for those hoping to compete in the CAC Championships. It could, of course, have been scheduled at virtually any time.

But no, it will be run Sunday morning, depriving the bank event of some of the Island's top runners and further diluting competition.

Isn't that typical of athletics' governing body?

- ADRIAN ROBSON