The fate of the five foreign athletes hoping to represent Bermuda at the Commonwealth Games in March could become clear within a week, has learned.

Bermuda Olympic Association president John Hoskins said yesterday that appeals against the new eligibility rule have been submitted on behalf of cyclist Lynn Patchett, triathletes Evan Naude, Riaan Naude and Jamie Brown as well as gymnast Kaisey Griffiths.

Hoskins was not prepared to go into the specifics of each case ? although it is understood that those in possession of a British passport stand a better chance of having their appeal upheld by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

At a meeting of the Commonwealth Games general assembly in 2003, all 71 member nations agreed that expats should be banned from representing their adopted homes, starting with this year's Games in Melbourne.

Previously the only eligibility requirement was for an athlete to have lived in a country for three years.

The BOA have already admitted that this information was not communicated to any of the athletes affected ? all of whom had put themselves through rigorous training regimes to reach the qualifying standard and only found out about the eligibility issue in late November last year.

CGF chief executive Michael Hooper told that the circumstances would have to be "exceptional" for any non-Bermudian athletes to be sanctioned.

But in defending the actions of his association, Hoskins said he was confident that he could persuade the CGF to waive the eligibility rule in the case of some, if not all, of the athletes concerned.