But there was no word this week on how much the officials want.

Presently a Class One referee earns just $50 per match.

Lyndon Raynor, vice president of Bermuda Referees Association, said the refs had long been concerned about the pay structure and the executive committee were to discuss suggested increases.

The matter came up at the referees' annual general meeting at Police Recreation Club last Monday night.

"Yes, it has always been one of our concerns,'' said Raynor. "We have to consider the different grade levels and decide whether to seek an increase by an additional sum of money or request an overall percentage increase across the board.'' He agreed there was a possibility that an increase would make refereeing more attractive to the public, but assured that it wasn't being considered with that in mind.

The BRA have been working hard to recruit referees over the past few years but their perseverance has brought only limited success and overall numbers remain low.

"It just may be that once an increase is approved then we will see people responding to our recruiting endeavours more positively,'' added Raynor.

"As things stand now people just say that we cannot pay them enough money to become a soccer referee, but we are desperately in need of help that's for sure.'' Raynor said he was not in possession of the current pay scale for all levels, but believed that the lowest pay was that of $25 for a linesman, more recently referred to as referee's assistant.

One positive sign at Monday's meeting was the attendance by some former players who Raynor believed could make a valuable contribution immediately.

Among the concerns of members were the poor condition of changing rooms for game officials at various grounds, the lack of security for referees and the lack of stewards available to assist in helping to combat crowd trouble.

"We have already voiced most of these concerns to the clubs but until they are in position to upgrade their facilities the problem will unfortunately continue to exist,'' said Raynor.